Methods and apparatus to improve cloud management

ABSTRACT

Methods, apparatus, systems, and articles of manufacture are disclosed to improve cloud management. An example apparatus includes at least one memory, machine readable instructions, and at least one processor to execute the machine readable instructions to at least store a blueprint and a cloud manager installer in a cloud platform manager to cause an installation of the cloud platform manager in a cloud computing environment, after a modification of the blueprint stored in the cloud platform manager, redeploy the cloud platform manager and a virtual resource of the cloud computing environment based on the modification, and cause execution of the cloud manager installer to manage a lifecycle of an application to be executed by the virtual resource.

RELATED APPLICATION

This patent arises from a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 16/513,413, (now U.S. Pat. No. ______) which was filed on Jul. 16,2019. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/513,413 is hereby incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety. Priority to U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 16/513,413 is hereby claimed.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure relates generally to cloud computing and, moreparticularly, to methods and apparatus to improve cloud management.

BACKGROUND

Virtualizing computer systems provides benefits such as the ability toexecute multiple computer systems on a single hardware computer,replicating computer systems, moving computer systems among multiplehardware computers, and so forth. “Infrastructure-as-a-Service” (alsocommonly referred to as “IaaS”) generally describes a suite oftechnologies provided by a service provider as an integrated solution toallow for elastic creation of a virtualized, networked, and pooledcomputing platform (sometimes referred to as a “cloud computingplatform”). Enterprises may use IaaS as a business-internalorganizational cloud computing platform (sometimes referred to as a“private cloud”) that gives an application developer access toinfrastructure resources, such as virtualized servers, storage, andnetworking resources. By providing ready access to the hardwareresources required to run an application, the cloud computing platformenables developers to build, deploy, and manage the lifecycle of a webapplication (or any other type of networked application) at a greaterscale and at a faster pace than ever before.

Cloud computing environments may be composed of many processing units(e.g., servers). The processing units may be installed in standardizedframes, known as racks, which provide efficient use of floor space byallowing the processing units to be stacked vertically. The racks mayadditionally include other components of a cloud computing environmentsuch as storage devices, networking devices (e.g., switches), etc.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an example system including anexample container platform manager executing an example cloud managerinstaller to deploy and manage an example cloud computing application.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example generation of a multi-machine blueprint bythe example cloud manager installer of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of a deployed cloud platform managerand an associated server acting as a host for deployment of componentservers for an end user.

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of an example implementation of thecloud platform manager of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 depicts a portion of an example blueprint in human-readable form.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed to implement the example containerplatform manager of FIG. 1 and the example cloud manager installer ofFIGS. 1, 2, 3, and/or 4 to provision the example cloud computingapplication of FIGS. 1 and/or 3.

FIG. 7 is flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed to implement the example containerplatform manager of FIG. 1 and the example cloud manager installer ofFIGS. 1, 2, 3, and/or 4 to provision the example cloud computingapplication of FIGS. 1 and/or 3.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed to implement the example containerplatform manager of FIG. 1 and the example cloud manager installer ofFIGS. 1, 2, 3, and/or 4 to provision and manage the example cloudcomputing application of FIGS. 1 and/or 3.

FIGS. 9 and 10 are flowcharts representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed to implement the example cloudplatform manager of FIG. 1 to perform lifecycle cloud management of theexample cloud computing application of FIGS. 1 and/or 3.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed to implement the example cloudplatform manager of FIG. 1 to re-deploy virtual resource(s) based onmodifications of an example blueprint.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an example processing platform structuredto execute the instructions of FIGS. 6-8 to implement the examplecontainer platform manager of FIG. 1 and the example cloud managerinstaller of FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and/or 4.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of an example processing platform structuredto execute the instructions of FIGS. 9-11 to implement the example cloudplatform manager of FIG. 1 and the example cloud manager installer ofFIGS. 1, 2, 3, and/or 4.

The figures are not to scale. In general, the same reference numberswill be used throughout the drawing(s) and accompanying writtendescription to refer to the same or like parts. Connecting lines orconnectors shown in the various figures presented are intended torepresent example functional relationships and/or physical or logicalcouplings between the various elements.

Descriptors “first,” “second,” “third,” etc. are used herein whenidentifying multiple elements or components which may be referred toseparately. Unless otherwise specified or understood based on theircontext of use, such descriptors are not intended to impute any meaningof priority or ordering in time but merely as labels for referring tomultiple elements or components separately for ease of understanding thedisclosed examples. In some examples, the descriptor “first” may be usedto refer to an element in the detailed description, while the sameelement may be referred to in a claim with a different descriptor suchas “second” or “third.” In such instances, it should be understood thatsuch descriptors are used merely for ease of referencing multipleelements or components.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Cloud computing is based on the deployment of many physical resourcesacross a network, virtualizing the physical resources into virtualresources, and provisioning the virtual resources to perform cloudcomputing services and applications. In some instances, a virtualmachine is generated based on a compilation of the virtual resourcesbased on the virtualization of corresponding physical resources. Avirtual machine is a software computer that, like a physical computer,runs an operating system and applications. An operating system installedon a virtual machine is referred to as a guest operating system. Becauseeach virtual machine is an isolated computing environment, virtualmachines (VMs) can be used as desktop or workstation environments, astesting environments, to consolidate server applications, etc. Virtualmachines can run on hosts or clusters. The same host can run a pluralityof VMs, for example.

As used herein, availability refers to the level of redundancy requiredto provide continuous operation expected for the workload domain. Asused herein, performance refers to the computer processing unit (CPU)operating speeds (e.g., CPU gigahertz (GHz)), memory (e.g., gigabytes(GB) of random access memory (RAM)), mass storage (e.g., GB hard drivedisk (HDD), GB solid state drive (SSD)), and power capabilities of aworkload domain. As used herein, capacity refers to the aggregate numberof resources (e.g., aggregate storage, aggregate CPU, etc.) across allservers associated with a cluster and/or a workload domain. In examplesdisclosed herein, the number of resources (e.g., capacity) for aworkload domain is determined based on the redundancy, the CPU operatingspeed, the memory, the storage, the security, and/or the powerrequirements selected by a user. For example, more resources arerequired for a workload domain as the user-selected requirementsincrease (e.g., higher redundancy, CPU speed, memory, storage, security,and/or power options require more resources than lower redundancy, CPUspeed, memory, storage, security, and/or power options).

Many different types of virtualization environments exist. Three exampletypes of virtualization environment are: full virtualization,paravirtualization, and operating system virtualization.

Full virtualization, as used herein, is a virtualization environment inwhich hardware resources are managed by a hypervisor to provide virtualhardware resources to a virtual machine. In a full virtualizationenvironment, the virtual machines do not have direct access to theunderlying hardware resources. In a typical full virtualizationenvironment, a host operating system with embedded hypervisor (e.g.,VMware ESXi®) is installed on the server hardware. Virtual machinesincluding virtual hardware resources are then deployed on thehypervisor. A guest operating system is installed in the virtualmachine. The hypervisor manages the association between the hardwareresources of the server hardware and the virtual resources allocated tothe virtual machines (e.g., associating physical random access memory(RAM) with virtual RAM). Typically, in full virtualization, the virtualmachine and the guest operating system have no visibility and/or directaccess to the hardware resources of the underlying server. Additionally,in full virtualization, a full guest operating system is typicallyinstalled in the virtual machine while a host operating system isinstalled on the server hardware. Example full virtualizationenvironments include VMware ESX®, Microsoft Hyper-V®, and Kernel BasedVirtual Machine (KVM).

Paravirtualization, as used herein, is a virtualization environment inwhich hardware resources are managed by a hypervisor to provide virtualhardware resources to a virtual machine and guest operating systems arealso allowed direct access to some or all of the underlying hardwareresources of the server (e.g., without accessing an intermediate virtualhardware resource). In a typical paravirtualization system, a hostoperating system (e.g., a Linux-based operating system) is installed onthe server hardware. A hypervisor (e.g., the Xen® hypervisor) executeson the host operating system. Virtual machines including virtualhardware resources are then deployed on the hypervisor. The hypervisormanages the association between the hardware resources (e.g., thephysical hardware resources) of the server hardware and the virtualresources allocated to the virtual machines (e.g., associating physicalrandom access memory (RAM) with virtual RAM). In paravirtualization, theguest operating system installed in the virtual machine is configuredalso to have direct access to some or all of the hardware resources ofthe server. For example, the guest operating system may be precompiledwith special drivers that allow the guest operating system to access thehardware resources without passing through a virtual hardware layer. Forexample, a guest operating system may be precompiled with drivers thatallow the guest operating system to access a sound card installed in theserver hardware. Directly accessing the hardware (e.g., withoutaccessing the virtual hardware resources of the virtual machine) may bemore efficient, may allow for performance of operations that are notsupported by the virtual machine and/or the hypervisor, etc.

Operating system virtualization is also referred to herein as containervirtualization. As used herein, operating system virtualization refersto a system in which processes are isolated in an operating system. In atypical operating system virtualization system, a host operating systemis installed on the server hardware. Alternatively, the host operatingsystem may be installed in a virtual machine of a full virtualizationenvironment or a paravirtualization environment. The host operatingsystem of an operating system virtualization system is configured (e.g.,utilizing a customized kernel) to provide isolation and resourcemanagement for processes that execute within the host operating system(e.g., applications that execute on the host operating system). Theisolation of the processes is known as a container. Several containersmay share a host operating system. Thus, a process executing within acontainer is isolated the process from other processes executing on thehost operating system. Thus, operating system virtualization providesisolation and resource management capabilities without the resourceoverhead utilized by a full virtualization environment or aparavirtualization environment. Alternatively, the host operating systemmay be installed in a virtual machine of a full virtualizationenvironment or a paravirtualization environment. Example operatingsystem virtualization environments include Linux Containers LXC and LXD,Docker™, OpenVZ™, etc.

In some instances, a data center (or pool of linked data centers) mayinclude multiple different virtualization environments. For example, adata center may include hardware resources that are managed by a fullvirtualization environment, a paravirtualization environment, and anoperating system virtualization environment. In such a data center, aworkload may be deployed to any of the virtualization environments.

Cloud computing platforms may provide many powerful capabilities forperforming computing operations. However, taking advantage of thesecomputing capabilities manually may be complex and/or requiresignificant training and/or expertise. Prior techniques to provide cloudcomputing platforms and services often require customers to understanddetails and configurations of hardware and software resources toestablish and configure the cloud computing platform.

Prior techniques to deploy and manage the cloud computing platforms mayinclude using a cloud management system (CMS) to establish a virtualenvironment of the cloud computing platform, which leaves an end user toperform other tasks, such as provisioning virtual resources to the cloudcomputing platform. A CMS may be used to monitor and/or otherwise managea cloud computing platform including monitoring virtual resources,managing firmware and/or software associated with the virtual resources,etc. In some instances, the end user generates a custom installer, orinstaller application, that includes computer-executable scripts todeploy the CMS and/or the cloud computing platform. However, generatinga custom installer necessitates substantial effort and extensiveknowledge of customer requirements, specifications, etc.

Prior techniques tailor the CMS for a particular version of a cloudcomputing platform. Typically, the CMS may not be used for differentcustomers, end users, etc., and/or the CMS may not be used for differentversions of the cloud computing platform. For example, deploying the CMScan include a team of developers to build and generate an installer(e.g., a CMS installer) to deploy a specific version of the CMS. In suchexamples, the team of developers can generate the installer to includethe computer-executable scripts to deploy a configured virtualenvironment and a configuration console or manager that is developed forthe particular version of the CMS to monitor the configured virtualenvironment. However, an update to the cloud computing platform (e.g.,the virtual environment, the CMS, etc.) may result in a new version ofthe cloud computing platform that includes new or modified ones ofphysical hardware resources, virtual resources, and/or correspondingfirmware or software upgrades associated with the cloud computingplatform. Prior techniques may facilitate the update to the cloudcomputing platform by generating another custom CMS installer to deploythe updates to the virtual environment and/or the CMS, which, in someinstances, require extensive and substantial efforts to build, test, andexecute. However, new or modified computer-executable scripts may beneeded to deploy updates to the physical hardware resources, the virtualresources, and/or corresponding firmware and/or software.

Methods and apparatus disclosed herein provide for automation ofdeployment and management tasks, such as provisioning multiple virtualmachines for a multiple-machine computing system (e.g., a group ofservers that inter-operate), linking provisioned virtual machines andtasks to desired systems to execute those virtual machines or tasks,and/or reclaiming cloud computing resources that are no longer in use.The improvements to the CMS (e.g., vRealize® Automation™ (vRA) CloudAutomation Software from VMware®, Inc., Cloud Assembly from VMware®,Inc., etc.), interfaces, portals, etc., disclosed herein may be utilizedindividually and/or in any combination. For example, all or a subset ofthe described improvements may be utilized.

Examples disclosed herein include executing a containerized applicationcorresponding to an example cloud platform manager (CPM) installer toestablish a cloud computing platform and provision a CMS in the cloudcomputing platform. The example CPM installer improves conventional CMSinstallers by deploying the CMS through the configuration of at leastone of a virtual environment to execute the application, virtualresources to execute the application, or the CMS itself to manage alifecycle of the application executing in the virtual environment. Forexample, the lifecycle of the application can include the configurationof the application, the provisioning and/or allocation of virtualresources to execute the application, the execution of the application,and/or the decommissioning or termination of the application that caninclude releasing the virtual resources from the application and back toa virtual resource pool. Compared to prior techniques where the CMSinstaller only configured the virtual environment, methods and apparatusdisclosed herein facilitate the configuration, deployment, andmanagement of the virtual environment and an application executed byvirtual resources in the virtual environment, which includesprovisioning the virtual resources.

In some disclosed examples, the CPM installer establishes the virtualenvironment and corresponding components based on a blueprint. In somedisclosed examples, the CPM installer generates a blueprint by obtaininga blueprint from a blueprint database, modifying the obtained blueprint,etc. In such disclosed examples, the blueprint can include virtualenvironment information, virtual resource information, firmware and/orsoftware information, etc., that can be used to establish, execute, andmanage a cloud computing platform. Accordingly, the example CPMinstaller can deploy a complete cloud computing platform including afully-configured and operational CMS based on the blueprint.

In some disclosed examples, the CPM installer embeds itself and/orotherwise provisions a copy of the CPM installer within the cloudcomputing platform. In such disclosed examples, the CMS can execute theCPM installer to manage one or more blueprints of the cloud computingplatform. For example, the CPM installer can be executed to identify amodification to a blueprint, identify a virtual resource affected by theblueprint, and implement the modification by, for example, re-deployingthe virtual resource with the modification. Accordingly, the cloudcomputing platform can be modified, upgraded, and/or otherwise managedby changing a blueprint associated with the cloud computing platform andre-executing the CPM installer using the modified blueprint instead ofdeveloping a different CMS installer to facilitate the modifications.

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an example system 100 including anexample container platform manager 102 executing an example cloudmanager installer 104 to deploy and manage an example virtualenvironment (e.g., a virtual computing environment) 106 hosted by anexample cloud provider 108. As used herein, the system 100 facilitatesmanagement of the cloud provider 108 and does not include the cloudprovider 108. Alternatively, the cloud provider 108 could be included inthe system 100.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the cloud provider 108 is a cloudcomputing platform provider that provisions virtual computing resources(e.g., virtual machines, or “VMs,” 110) that may be accessed by users ofthe cloud provider 108 (e.g., users associated with an exampleadministrator 112 and/or an example developer 114) and/or otherprograms, software, device. etc.

An example application 116 of FIG. 1 includes multiple VMs 110. The VMs110 of FIG. 1 provide different functions within the application 116(e.g., services, portions of the application 116, etc.). One or more ofthe VMs 110 of the illustrated example are customized by theadministrator 112 and/or the developer 114 of the application 116relative to a stock or out-of-the-box (e.g., commonly availablepurchased copy) version of the services and/or application components.In FIG. 1, the VMs 110 are communicatively coupled to each other via anexample network (e.g., a virtualized network) 118. Additionally, theservices executing on the VMs 110 may have dependencies on other ones ofthe VMs 110. For example, a first virtual resource associated with afirst one of the VMs 110 may be dependent and/or otherwise have adependency on a second virtual resource associated with the first one ofthe VMs 110, a second one of the VMs 110, etc.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the cloud provider 108 may provide multipledeployment environments 120 a-c, for example, for development, testing,staging, and/or production of applications. In FIG. 1, the deploymentenvironments 120 a-c include a first example deployment environment 120a to execute the application 116, a second example deploymentenvironment 120 b to execute example containers (e.g., container images)122, and a third example deployment environment 120 c executing as adevelopment environment. Alternatively, fewer or more than thedeployment environments 120 a-c depicted in FIG. 1 may be used.

The administrator 112, the developer 114, other programs, and/or otherdevices may access services from the cloud provider 108, for example,via Representational State Transfer (REST) Application ProgrammingInterfaces (APIs) and/or via any other client-server communicationprotocol. Example implementations of a REST API for cloud computingservices include a vCloud Automation Center™ (vCAC) and/or vRealize®Automation™ (vRA) API and a vCloud Director™ API available from VMware®,Inc. The cloud provider 108 provisions virtual computing resources(e.g., the VMs 110) to provide the deployment environments 120 a-c inwhich the administrator 112 and/or the developer 114 can deploymulti-tier application(s), such as the application 116. One particularexample implementation of a deployment environment that may be used toimplement the deployment environments 120 a-c of FIG. 1 is vCAC or vRAcloud computing services available from VMware®, Inc.

In some examples disclosed herein, a lighter-weight virtualization isemployed by using the containers 122 in place of the VMs 110 in thesecond deployment environment 120 b. Containers 122 or container imagesare software constructs that run on top of a host operating systemwithout the need for a hypervisor or a separate guest operating system.Unlike the VMs 110, the containers 122 do not instantiate their ownoperating systems. Like the VMs 110, the containers 122 are logicallyseparate from one another. Numerous ones of the containers 122 can runon a single computer, processor system, and/or in the same deploymentenvironment 120 b. Also, like the VMs 110, the containers 122 canexecute instances of applications or programs (e.g., the application116) separate from application/program instances executed by the othercontainers 122 in the same deployment environment 120 b.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the system 100 includes thecontainer platform manager 102 to obtain, configure, and/or provisionthe containers 122 to the virtual computing environment 106. In someexamples, the container platform manager 102 executes the cloud managerinstaller 104 and/or one or more of the containers 122. For example, thecloud manager installer 104 can be a container-based application (e.g.,a containerized application) including one or more of the containers122. In other examples, the cloud manager installer 104 may be anon-containerized application. In FIG. 1, the container platform manager102 includes a first example communication interface 124, an examplecontainer controller 126, and an example execution environment 128.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the container platform manager 102includes the first communication interface 124 to facilitatecommunication with an example network 130. In some examples, the firstcommunication interface 124 obtains data from and/or transmits data toan example container database 132 and/or an example blueprint database134. In FIG. 1, the first communication interface 124 can implement aweb server that receives and/or otherwise obtains the cloud managerinstaller 104 and/or the containers 122 from the container database 132,an example blueprint 136 from the blueprint database 134, etc. In FIG.1, in response to the blueprint 136 being obtained from the blueprintdatabase 134, an example instance of the blueprint 136 a is stored. Forexample, future modifications to the instance of the blueprint 136 a maynot alter, adjust, and/or otherwise affect the blueprint 136 stored inthe blueprint database 134. In FIG. 1, the first communication interface124 may obtain and/or transmit data formatted as HTTP messages. However,any other message format and/or protocol may additionally oralternatively be used such as, for example, a file transfer protocol(FTP), a simple message transfer protocol (SMTP), an HTTP secure (HTTPS)protocol, etc.

The network 130 of the illustrated example of FIG. 1 is the Internet.However, the network 130 may be implemented using any suitable wiredand/or wireless network(s) including, for example, one or more databuses, one or more Local Area Networks (LANs), one or more wirelessLANs, one or more cellular networks, one or more private networks, oneor more public networks, etc. The network 130 enables the containerplatform manager 102 and/or the cloud provider 108 to be incommunication with the container database 132 and/or the blueprintdatabase 134.

The system 100 of FIG. 1 includes the container database 132 to recordand/or otherwise store data (e.g., the cloud manager installer 104, theone or more of the containers 122, etc.). The container database 132 maybe implemented by a volatile memory (e.g., a Synchronous Dynamic RandomAccess Memory (SDRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUSDynamic Random Access Memory (RDRAM), etc.) and/or a non-volatile memory(e.g., flash memory). The container database 132 may additionally oralternatively be implemented by one or more double data rate (DDR)memories, such as DDR, DDR2, DDR3, DDR4, mobile DDR (mDDR), etc. Thecontainer database 132 may additionally or alternatively be implementedby one or more mass storage devices such as hard disk drive(s), compactdisk drive(s), digital versatile disk drive(s), solid-state diskdrive(s), etc. While in the illustrated example the container database132 is illustrated as a single database, the container database 132 maybe implemented by any number and/or type(s) of databases. Furthermore,the data stored in the container database 132 may be in any data formatsuch as, for example, binary data, comma delimited data, tab delimiteddata, structured query language (SQL) structures, etc.

The system 100 of FIG. 1 includes the blueprint database 134 to recordand/or otherwise store data (e.g., the blueprints 136 including one ormore basic blueprints and/or one or more multi-machine blueprints). Theblueprint database 134 may be implemented by a volatile memory (e.g., aSDRAM, DRAM, RDRAM, etc.) and/or a non-volatile memory (e.g., flashmemory). The blueprint database 134 may additionally or alternatively beimplemented by one or more DDR memories, such as DDR, DDR2, DDR3, DDR4,mDDR, etc. The blueprint database 134 may additionally or alternativelybe implemented by one or more mass storage devices such as hard diskdrive(s), compact disk drive(s), digital versatile disk drive(s),solid-state disk drive(s), etc. While in the illustrated example theblueprint database 134 is illustrated as a single database, theblueprint database 134 may be implemented by any number and/or type(s)of databases. Furthermore, the data stored in the blueprint database 134may be in any data format such as, for example, binary data, commadelimited data, tab delimited data, SQL structures, etc.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the container platform manager 102includes the container controller 126 to facilitate computing operationsassociated with a configuration and/or an execution of a containerizedapplication. In some examples, the container controller 126 configures acontainerized application. For example, the container controller 126 mayconfigure and/or otherwise modify one of the containers 122 obtainedfrom the container database 132. In other examples, the containercontroller 126 may configure and/or otherwise modify the cloud managerinstaller 104. In some examples, the container controller 126 invokesthe first communication interface 124 to obtain and/or transmit data tothe cloud provider 108. For example, the container controller 126 mayinvoke the first communication interface 124 to transmit data to thecloud provider 108 to establish the virtual computing environment 106,provision the VMs 110 and/or the containers 122, etc. In other examples,the container controller 126 can invoke the first communicationinterface 124 to direct the cloud provider 108 to provision one of theblueprints 136 in the virtual computing environment 106 by storing theprovisioned blueprint in one of the VMs 110 for further processing.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the container platform manager 102includes the execution environment 128 to process and/or otherwiseexecute one or more containers, such as the cloud manager installer 104and/or the containers 122. In some examples, the execution environment128 corresponds to a portion of at least one of one or more processorsor storage space on one or more mass storage devices. In some examples,the execution environment 128 can be executed on a VM that emulates allor a portion of the one or more processors and/or the one or more massstorage devices.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the cloud manager installer 104orchestrates deployment of multi-tier applications, such as theapplication 116, onto one of the deployment environments 120 a-c. Insome examples, the cloud manager installer 104 configures and deploys anexample cloud platform manager 138 to the virtual computing environment106. In some examples, the cloud manager installer 104 obtains virtualenvironment information (e.g., from the administrator 112, the developer114, an end user, a database, etc.) and establishes the virtualcomputing environment 106 based on the virtual environment information.In some examples, in response to establishing the virtual computingenvironment 106, the cloud manager installer 104 can provision virtualresources, such as compute, storage, security, network, etc., to buildand/or otherwise provision the VMs 110 to the virtual computingenvironment 106.

In some examples, the cloud manager installer 104 deploys the cloudplatform manager 138 to manage a lifecycle of the application 116and/or, more generally, to monitor and/or manage the virtual computingenvironment 106. In some examples, the cloud manager installer 104performs one or more of the above-described operations based on theblueprint 136 a (e.g., the instance of the blueprint 136 from theblueprint database 134). In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the cloudmanager installer 104 includes a second example communication interface140, an example environment controller 142, and example blueprintcontroller 144, an example infrastructure controller 146, an examplelifecycle controller 148, and an example database 150.

The cloud manager installer 104 of FIG. 1 includes the secondcommunication interface 140 to provision and configure the VMs 110 inthe virtual computing environment 106. The second communicationinterface 140 provides an example communication abstraction layer 152 bywhich the cloud manager installer 104 may communicate with aheterogeneous mixture of the cloud provider 108 and the deploymentenvironments 120 a-c. In FIG. 1, the communication abstraction layer 152corresponds to one or more APIs. For example, the second communicationinterface 140 may invoke the cloud provider 108 to execute a computingaction in connection with at least one of the deployment environments120 a-c by triggering, calling, and/or otherwise invoking one or moreAPIs.

The cloud manager installer 104 of FIG. 1 includes the environmentcontroller 142 to configure and establish the virtual computingenvironment 106. In some examples, the environment controller 142obtains environment information (e.g., virtual environment information).For example, the environment controller 142 may obtain credentials(e.g., a user name, a password, etc.) associated with an account of theadministrator 112, the developer 114, etc., of the cloud provider 108.In other examples, the environment controller 142 can obtain a securitycertificate, server-identifying information (e.g., a uniform resourcelocator (URL), an Internet Protocol (IP) address, an IP port, etc.),etc. In some examples, the environment controller 142 directs the cloudprovider 108 to establish the virtual computing environment 106 based onthe environment information by instructing the second communicationinterface 140 to transmit the environment information and correspondingcommands, instructions, etc., to the cloud provider 108 via thecommunication abstraction layer 152.

The cloud manager installer 104 of FIG. 1 includes the blueprintcontroller 144 to manage the obtaining, creation, and/or modification ofthe blueprints 136 a. In some examples, the blueprints 136 a includebasic blueprints that specify a logical topology of an application to bedeployed. A basic blueprint is a definition of policies (e.g., hardwarepolicies, security policies, network policies, etc.) for a singlemachine (e.g., a single virtual machine such as a web server virtualmachine and/or container). In some examples, the blueprints 136 ainclude multi-machine blueprints that define the attributes of multiplevirtual machines as a single group that can be provisioned, deployed,managed, etc. as a single unit. For example, a multi-machine blueprintmay include definitions for multiple basic blueprints that make up aservice (e.g., an e-commerce provider that includes web servers,application servers, and database servers). Accordingly, the blueprintcontroller 144 facilitates more efficient management of multiple virtualmachines and/or containers than manually managing (e.g., deploying)basic blueprints individually. Example management of multi-machineblueprints is described in further detail in conjunction with FIG. 2.

The blueprint 136 a of FIG. 1, also referred to herein as an applicationblueprint, generally captures the structure of an application as acollection of application components executing on virtual computingresources. For example, the blueprint 136 a obtained by and/or generatedby the blueprint controller 144 for an online store application mayspecify a web application (e.g., in the form of a Java web applicationarchive or “WAR” file including dynamic web pages, static web pages,Java servlets, Java classes, and/or other property, configuration and/orresources files that make up a Java web application) executing on anapplication server (e.g., Apache Tomcat application server) that uses adatabase (e.g., MongoDB) as a data store. As used herein, the term“application” generally refers to a logical deployment unit, includingone or more application packages and their dependent middleware and/oroperating systems. Applications, such as the application 116, may bedistributed across multiple VMs, such as the VMs 110. Thus, in theexample described above, the term “application” refers to the entireonline store application, including application server and databasecomponents, rather than just the web application itself. In someinstances, the application may include the underlying hardware and/orvirtual computing hardware utilized to implement the components.

The example blueprint controller 144 of FIG. 1 additionally annotatesthe blueprints 136 a (e.g., basic blueprints and/or multi-machineblueprints) to control how workflows associated with the basicblueprints and/or multi-machine blueprints are executed. For example,the blueprint controller 144 may store an obtained one of the blueprints136 a, a modified one of the blueprints 136 a, an annotated one of theblueprints 136 a, etc., in the database 150. As used herein, a workflowis a series of actions and decisions to be executed in a virtualcomputing platform, such as the virtual computing environment 106. Forexample, the blueprint controller 144 may generate a workflow based onthe blueprint 136 a to provision the virtual computing environment 106with the VMs 110, the containers 122, and/or corresponding firmwareand/or software.

The blueprint 136 a of FIG. 1 may be assembled from items (e.g.,templates) from the blueprint database 134, which can include a listingof available virtual computing resources (e.g., VMs, networking,storage, etc.) that may be provisioned from the cloud provider 108 andavailable application components (e.g., software services, scripts, codecomponents, application-specific packages) that may be installed on theprovisioned virtual computing resources. The blueprint database 134 maybe pre-populated and/or customized by the administrator 112 (e.g., IT(Information Technology) or system administrator) that enters inspecifications, configurations, properties, and/or other details aboutitems in the blueprint database 134. Based on the application, theblueprints 136 a may define one or more dependencies between applicationcomponents to indicate an installation order of the applicationcomponents during deployment. For example, since a load balancer usuallycannot be configured until a web application is up and running, thedeveloper 114 may specify a dependency from an Apache service to anapplication code package.

The cloud manager installer 104 of FIG. 1 includes the database 150 torecord data (e.g., environment information, virtual resourceinformation, the blueprint 136 a, etc.). The database 150 may beimplemented by a volatile memory (e.g., a Synchronous Dynamic RandomAccess Memory (SDRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUSDynamic Random Access Memory (RDRAM), etc.) and/or a non-volatile memory(e.g., flash memory). The database 150 may additionally or alternativelybe implemented by one or more double data rate (DDR) memories, such asDDR, DDR2, DDR3, DDR4, mobile DDR (mDDR), etc. The database 150 mayadditionally or alternatively be implemented by one or more mass storagedevices such as hard disk drive(s), compact disk drive(s), digitalversatile disk drive(s), solid-state disk drive(s), etc. While in theillustrated example the database 150 is illustrated as a singledatabase, the database 150 may be implemented by any number and/ortype(s) of databases. Furthermore, the data stored in the database 150may be in any data format such as, for example, binary data, commadelimited data, tab delimited data, structured query language (SQL)structures, etc.

The cloud manager installer 104 of FIG. 1 includes the infrastructurecontroller 146 to generate a deployment plan based on the blueprint 136a that includes deployment settings for the blueprint 136 a (e.g.,virtual computing resources' cluster size, CPU, memory, networks, etc.)and an execution plan of tasks having a specified order in which virtualcomputing resources are provisioned and application components areinstalled, configured, and started. The infrastructure controller 146generates the deployment plan to provide an IT administrator with aprocess-oriented view of the blueprint 136 a that indicates discreteactions to be performed to deploy the application 116. Differentdeployment plans may be generated from a single blueprint 136 a to testprototypes (e.g., new application versions), to scale up and/or scaledown deployments, and/or to deploy the application to different ones ofthe deployment environments 120 a-c (e.g., testing, staging,production). The infrastructure controller 146 can separate anddistribute the deployment plan as local deployment plans having a seriesof tasks to be executed by the VMs 110 provisioned from the deploymentenvironments 120 a-c. Each VM 110 can coordinate execution of each taskwith a centralized deployment module (e.g., the infrastructurecontroller 146, an example endpoint 156, etc.) to ensure that tasks areexecuted in an order that complies with dependencies specified in theblueprint 136 a. For example, the infrastructure controller 146 cangenerate the endpoints 156 of FIG. 1 to facilitate the execution of oneor more tasks associated with the virtual computing environment 106. Inother examples, the environment controller 142 can generate theendpoints 156 based on virtual environment information.

The infrastructure controller 146 of FIG. 1 executes the deployment planbased on the blueprint 136 a by communicating with the cloud provider108 via the second communication interface 140 to provision andconfigure the VMs 110 in the deployment environments 120 a-c. Theinfrastructure controller 146 provides each VM 110 with a series oftasks specific to the receiving VM 110 (herein referred to as a “localdeployment plan”). Tasks are executed by the VMs 110 to install,configure, and/or start one or more application components. For example,a task may be a script that, when executed by a VM 110, causes the VM110 to retrieve and install particular software packages from an examplesoftware database 154. The infrastructure controller 146 coordinateswith the VMs 110 to execute the tasks in an order that observesinstallation dependencies between VMs 110 according to the deploymentplan.

The system 100 of FIG. 1 includes the software database 154 to recordand/or otherwise store data (e.g., software packages, firmware packages,firmware and/or software drivers, etc.). The software database 154 maybe implemented by a volatile memory (e.g., a SDRAM, DRAM, RDRAM, etc.)and/or a non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory). The software database154 may additionally or alternatively be implemented by one or more DDRmemories, such as DDR, DDR2, DDR3, DDR4, mDDR, etc. The softwaredatabase 154 may additionally or alternatively be implemented by one ormore mass storage devices such as hard disk drive(s), compact diskdrive(s), digital versatile disk drive(s), solid-state disk drive(s),etc. While in the illustrated example the software database 154 isillustrated as a single database, the software database 154 may beimplemented by any number and/or type(s) of databases. Furthermore, thedata stored in the software database 154 may be in any data format suchas, for example, machine-readable executables, binary data, commadelimited data, tab delimited data, SQL structures, etc.

The cloud manager installer 104 of FIG. 1 includes the lifecyclecontroller 148 to monitor and/or modify (e.g., scale, upgrade, etc.) theapplication 116 and/or, more generally, the virtual computingenvironment 106, after the application 116 has been deployed. In someexamples, after the cloud provider 108 instantiates the virtualcomputing environment 106, the deployment environments 120 a-c, etc.,the container platform manager 102 installs the cloud platform manager138 by copying an instance of the cloud manager installer 104 and theblueprint 136 a stored in the database 150 in one or more of the VMs110.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the VM 110 executes the cloudplatform manager 138 to manage a lifecycle of the application 116. Forexample, the cloud platform manager 138 can execute a locally storedinstance of the cloud manager installer 104 to invoke the lifecyclecontroller 148 to alter and/or otherwise modify the application 116and/or, more generally, the virtual computing environment 106 based onthe blueprint 136 a.

In some examples, the lifecycle controller 148 adjusts the application116 based on the blueprint 136 a being modified. For example, theadministrator 112, the developer 114, etc., may modify the blueprint 136a, where the modification is associated with a change in a virtualresource, the VMs 110, the containers 122, etc. In some examples, thelifecycle controller 148 extracts blueprint modification information(BMI) from a request to modify the blueprint. In such examples, the BMIcan include one or more modifications to a virtual resource (e.g., theVMs 110, the containers 122, a component server, etc.). In otherexamples, the lifecycle controller 148 can identify or determine BMI bycomparing two blueprints and identifying the differences as BMI. Forexample, the lifecycle controller 148 can identify a modified version ofthe blueprint 136 a as a desired state, where a current or instant stateof a corresponding resource is an actual state. In such examples, thelifecycle controller 148 can be invoked to execute actions (e.g.,corrective actions) to adjust the resource having the actual state matchthe desired state of the modified version of the blueprint 136 a.

In some examples, the lifecycle controller 148 determines whether theBMI is valid. For example, the lifecycle controller 148 can compare amodification included in the BMI associated with the virtual resource toa definition, a policy, etc., of the virtual resource in the blueprintdatabase 134, or a different database or repository. In some examples,in response to determining that the modification is not valid based onthe comparison, the lifecycle controller 148 generates an alert to theadministrator 112, the developer 114, a computing device (e.g., apersonal computer, a server, etc.) associated with the administrator112, the developer 114, etc., that requested to modify the blueprint 136a, where the alert is indicative that the modification is not valid. Insuch examples, the lifecycle controller 148 can include in the alert asuggestion, a recommendation, etc., to modify the request to facilitatea valid modification.

In some examples, in response to determining that the modification isvalid based on the comparison, the lifecycle controller 148 invokes theendpoint (e.g., a virtual infrastructure endpoint) 156 to perform and/orotherwise facilitate the execution of the modification. In an examplewhere the modification is a software upgrade to a load balancerassociated with the network 118 of the application 116, the endpoint 156may install the software upgrade on the load balancer and restart and/orotherwise redeploy the load balancer with the software upgrade. Forexample, the endpoint 156 may facilitate the upgrade via one or moreagents (e.g., software agents) deployed on component servers associatedwith the VMs 110. In FIG. 1, the infrastructure controller 146 cangenerate, configure, and deploy the endpoint 156. In such examples, thelifecycle controller 146 can adjust the actual state of the loadbalancer associated with the network 118 to the desired state defined bythe modification (e.g., the modified version of the blueprint 136 a).

In some examples, the lifecycle controller 148 adjusts the application116 in response to receiving a different one of the blueprints 136 athan the blueprint 136 a stored locally in the VM 110. In an examplewhere the blueprint 136 a stored in the VM 110 is a first blueprint, theadministrator 112, the developer 114, etc., may provision a secondblueprint different from the first blueprint to the VM 110. Thelifecycle controller 148 may compare the second blueprint to the firstblueprint. The lifecycle controller 148 may determine that the secondblueprint is different from the first blueprint and includes amodification based on the comparison, where the modification isassociated with a change in a virtual resource, the VMs 110, thecontainers 122, etc. In such examples, the lifecycle controller 148 candetermine whether the modification is valid. For example, the lifecyclecontroller 148 can compare the modification associated with the virtualresource to a definition, a policy, etc., of the virtual resource in theblueprint database 134, or a different database or repository. Inresponse to determining that the modification is valid based on thecomparison, the lifecycle controller 148 can replace the first blueprintwith the second blueprint, integrate the changes by modifying the firstblueprint to comport with the second blueprint, etc. The lifecyclecontroller 148 may invoke the endpoint 156 to perform the modification.For example, the lifecycle controller 148 may redeploy one or morevirtual resources, the VMs 110, etc., based on the modification.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the endpoint 156 can be a softwareaccount or entity that has access to configuration information of theVMs 110 and may execute instructions in the VMs 110. For example, theendpoint 156 may be provided with root access or administrator-levelaccess to the VMs 110. Examples disclosed herein may request informationfrom the VMs 110 and/or instruct the VMs 110 to execute instructions viathe respective endpoint 156. For example, the endpoint 156 executing onthe VM 110 may expose one or more APIs for providing commands to the VM110 using the exposed API(s).

While an example manner of implementing the cloud manager installer 104and/or the container platform manager 102 is illustrated in FIG. 1, oneor more of the elements, processes, and/or devices illustrated in FIG. 1may be combined, divided, re-arranged, omitted, eliminated, and/orimplemented in any other way. Further, the blueprint 136 a, the secondcommunication interface 140, the environment controller 142, theblueprint controller 144, the infrastructure 146, the lifecyclecontroller 148, the database 150, the communication abstraction layer152 and/or, more generally, the cloud manager installer 104, and/or thefirst communication interface 124, the container controller 126, theexecution environment 128, and/or, more generally, the example containerplatform manager 102 of FIG. 1 may be implemented by hardware, software,firmware, and/or any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware.Thus, for example, any of the blueprint 136 a, the second communicationinterface 140, the environment controller 142, the blueprint controller144, the infrastructure 146, the lifecycle controller 148, the database150, the communication abstraction layer 152 and/or, more generally, thecloud manager installer 104, and/or the first communication interface124, the container controller 126, the execution environment 128,and/or, more generally, the example container platform manager 102 couldbe implemented by one or more analog or digital circuit(s), logiccircuits, programmable processor(s), programmable controller(s),graphics processing unit(s) (GPU(s)), digital signal processor(s)(DSP(s)), application specific integrated circuit(s) (ASIC(s)),programmable logic device(s) (PLD(s)), and/or field programmable logicdevice(s) (FPLD(s)). When reading any of the apparatus or system claimsof this patent to cover a purely software and/or firmwareimplementation, at least one of the blueprint 136 a, the secondcommunication interface 140, the environment controller 142, theblueprint controller 144, the infrastructure 146, the lifecyclecontroller 148, the database 150, the communication abstraction layer152 and/or, more generally, the cloud manager installer 104, and/or thefirst communication interface 124, the container controller 126, theexecution environment 128, and/or, more generally, the example containerplatform manager 102 of FIG. 1 is/are hereby expressly defined toinclude a non-transitory computer readable storage device or storagedisk such as a memory, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a compact disk(CD), a Blu-ray disk, etc., including the software and/or firmware.Further still, the example cloud manager installer 104 and/or thecontainer platform manager 102 of FIG. 1 may include one or moreelements, processes, and/or devices in addition to, or instead of, thoseillustrated in FIG. 1, and/or may include more than one of any or all ofthe illustrated elements, processes, and devices. As used herein, thephrase “in communication,” including variations thereof, encompassesdirect communication and/or indirect communication through one or moreintermediary components, and does not require direct physical (e.g.,wired) communication and/or constant communication, but ratheradditionally includes selective communication at periodic intervals,scheduled intervals, aperiodic intervals, and/or one-time events.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example implementation of the blueprint 136 a as amulti-machine blueprint generated by the blueprint controller 144 ofFIG. 1. In the illustrated example of FIG. 2, three example basicblueprints 202, 204, 206 including an example web server blueprint 202,an example application (App) server blueprint 204, and an exampledatabase (DB) server blueprint 206 have been created (e.g., by theblueprint controller 144). For example, the web server blueprint 202,the application server blueprint 204, and the database server blueprint206 may define the components of an e-commerce online store.

In some examples, the blueprint controller 144 provides a user interfacefor a user of the blueprint controller 144 (e.g., the administrator 112,the developer 114, etc.) to specify blueprints (e.g., basic blueprintsand/or multi-machine blueprints) to be assigned to an instance of anexample multi-machine blueprint 208. For example, the user interface mayinclude a list of previously generated basic blueprints (e.g., the webserver blueprint 202, the application server blueprint 204, the databaseserver blueprint 206, etc.) to allow selection of desired blueprints. Insuch examples, the list of previously generated basic blueprints can beobtained from the blueprint database 134 of FIG. 1.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 2, the blueprint controller 144combines the selected blueprints into the definition of themulti-machine blueprint 208 and stores information about the blueprintsin a multi-machine blueprint record defining the multi-machine blueprint208. For example, the blueprint controller 144 may store themulti-machine blueprint record in the database 150 of the cloud managerinstaller 104 of FIG. 1. In some examples, the blueprint controller 144additionally includes a user interface to specify other characteristicscorresponding to the multi-machine blueprint 208. For example, a creatorof the multi-machine blueprint 208 may specify a minimum number and amaximum number of each blueprint component of the multi-machineblueprint 208 that may be provisioned during provisioning of themulti-machine blueprint 208. In such examples, multiple instances of theVM 110, the containers 122, and/or virtual resources including compute,storage, security, network, etc., virtual resources can be specified.

Accordingly, any number of virtual machines (e.g., the VMs 110 of FIG.1, virtual machines associated with the blueprints in the multi-machineblueprint 208, etc.) and/or containers (e.g., the containers 122 ofFIG. 1) may be managed collectively. For example, the multiple virtualmachines corresponding to the multi-machine blueprint 208 may beprovisioned based on an instruction to provision the multi-machineblueprint 208, may be power cycled by an instruction, may be shut downby an instruction, may be booted by an instruction, etc. As illustratedin FIG. 2, an instruction to provision the multi-machine blueprint 208may result in the provisioning of a multi-machine service formed fromone or more VMs 110 that include example virtualized web server(s) 210a, example virtualized application server(s) 210 b, and examplevirtualized database server(s) 210 c. The number of virtual machinesand/or containers provisioned for each blueprint may be specified duringthe provisioning of the multi-machine blueprint 208 (e.g., subject tothe limits specified during creation or management of the multi-machineblueprint 208).

The multi-machine blueprint 208 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2maintains the reference to the basic blueprints 202, 204, 206.Accordingly, changes made to the blueprints (e.g., by the blueprintcontroller 144, by the lifecycle controller 148 of FIG. 1 afterdeployment of the application 116, by a manager of the blueprintsdifferent than the manager of the multi-machine blueprint 208, etc.) maybe incorporated into future provisioning of the multi-machine blueprint208. Accordingly, an administrator maintaining the source blueprints(e.g., the administrator 112 of FIG. 1, an administrator charged withmanaging the web server blueprint 202, etc.) may change or update thesource blueprint and the changes may be automatically propagated to themachines provisioned from the multi-machine blueprint 208. For example,if an operating system update is applied to a disk image referenced bythe web server blueprint 202 (e.g., a disk image embodying the primarydisk of the web server blueprint 202), the updated disk image isutilized when deploying the multi-machine blueprint. In such examples,the lifecycle controller 148 can determine that a modified blueprintidentifies the disk image to be updated and the lifecycle controller 148can invoke the endpoint 156 to update the disk image to have theoperating system update.

Several multi-machine blueprints may be generated to provide one or morevaried or customized services. For example, if virtual machines deployedin the various States of the United States require different settings, amulti-machine blueprint could be generated for each state. Themulti-machine blueprints could reference the same build profile and/ordisk image, but may include different settings specific to each state.For example, the deployment workflow executed by the infrastructurecontroller 146 of FIG. 1 may include an operation to set a localitysetting of an operating system to identify a particular state in which aresource is physically located. Thus, a single disk image may beutilized for multiple multi-machine blueprints reducing the amount ofstorage space for storing disk images compared with storing a disk imagefor each customized setting.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example installation 300 of deployed appliances orvirtual appliances (vAs) (e.g., the VMs 110 and/or the containers 122 ofFIG. 1) and associated virtualized servers acting as hosts fordeployment of component servers (e.g., a Web server, an applicationserver, a database server, etc.) for a customer or end user. In FIG. 3,the installation 300 corresponds to the application 116 of FIG. 1executing in the deployment environment 120 a. The vAs can be deployedas an automation tool, for example, used to deliver and manage VMs andassociated applications for on-premise automation and/or handling ofexternal cloud resources (e.g., Microsoft Azure™, Amazon Web Services™,etc.). For example, the cloud platform manager 138 deployed by the cloudmanager installer 104 of FIG. 1 can be a vA.

As shown in the example of FIG. 3, the deployment or installation 300includes an example load balancer (LB) 310 to assign tasks and/or manageaccess among a plurality of example vAs 320, 322, 324 including a firstexample vA 320, a second example vA 322, and a third example vA 324.Each vA 320-324 is a deployed one of the VMs 110 and/or the containers122. In FIG. 3, the LB 310 can also manage network load balancing byadjusting traffic of the network 118 of FIG. 1.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 3, the first vA 320 is the VM 110 ofFIG. 1 that includes the cloud platform manager 138 that includes thecloud manager installer 104 and the blueprint 136 a of FIG. 1. In thisexample, the first vA 320 communicates with a plurality of examplecomponent or host servers 330, 332, 334, 336 that store components forexecution by users (e.g., the web server 210 a of FIG. 2 with webcomponents, the app server 210 b of FIG. 2 with application components,the DB server 210 c of FIG. 2 with database components, etc.). Forexample, the component servers 330, 332, 334, 336 may be deployed by thecloud manager installer 104 based on the blueprint 136 a.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 3, the component servers 330, 332,332, 336 include a first example component server 330, a second examplecomponent server 332, a third example component server 334, and a fourthexample component server 336. As shown in the example of FIG. 3, thethird and fourth component servers 334, 336 can stem from the firstcomponent server 330 rather than (or in addition to) directly from thefirst vA 320, although the first vA 320 can still communicate with thethird and fourth servers 334, 336. The LB 310 enables the multiple vAs320, 322, 324 and multiple servers 330, 332, 334, 336 to appear as onedevice to a user. Access to functionality can then be distributed amongthe vAs 320, 322, 324 by the LB 310 and among the component servers 330,332, 334, 336 by the respective vA which, in this example, is the firstvA 320. The LB 310 can use least response time, round-robin, and/orother method to balance traffic to the vAs 320, 322, 324 and thecomponent servers 330, 332, 334, 336, for example.

In the example installation 300 depicted in FIG. 3, each vA 320, 322,324 includes an example endpoint (e.g., a management endpoint) 340, 342,344 including a first example endpoint 340, a second example endpoint342, and a third example endpoint 344. Each component server 330, 332,334, 336 includes an example agent (e.g., a management agent) 350, 352,354, 356. The agents 350, 352, 354, 356 can communicate with theirrespective endpoint 340 to facilitate transfer of data, execution oftasks, etc., for example.

In some examples, the agents 350, 352, 354, 356 synchronize thecomponent servers 330, 332, 334, 336 with the vAs 320, 322, 324 andfacilitate host access and associated services (e.g., hostd, ntpd,sfcbd, slpd, wsman, vobd, etc.). The agents 350, 352, 354, 356 cancommunicate with their respective endpoint 340, 342, 344 to facilitatetransfer of data, execution of tasks, etc., for example. Therelationship between the management endpoints 340, 342, 344 and theassociated agents 350, 352, 354, 356 can be used to deploy and installsoftware on multiple component servers 330, 332, 334, 336. The endpoints340, 342, 344 can correspond to the endpoints 156 of FIG. 1.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 3, an example user interface (e.g., agraphical user interface) 358 associated with a front end of theinstallation 300 guides a customer through one or more questions todetermine system requirements for the installation 300. In FIG. 3, theuser interface 358 is an installation wizard executed by the cloudmanager installer 104 to configure and deploy the installation 300. Oncethe customer has completed the questionnaire and provided firewallaccess to install the agents 350-356, the agents 350-356 can communicatewith the endpoints 340, 342, 344 without customer involvement. Thus, forexample, if the blueprint 136 a of FIG. 1 used to execute theinstallation 300 is modified, the endpoints 340, 342, 344 and/or theagents 350-356 can facilitate the modification of the application 116automatically and/or without intervention from the administrator 112,the developer 114, etc., of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of an example implementation of thecloud platform manager 138 of FIG. 1. In FIG. 4, the cloud platformmanager 138 is in communication with the cloud provider 108 of FIG. 1.Alternatively, the cloud platform manager 138 may not be incommunication with the cloud provider 108 and, thus, may be optionallyincluded in FIG. 4. In FIG. 4, the administrator 112 and/or thedeveloper 114 of FIG. 1 can execute the cloud platform manager 138 on acomputing device. As depicted in FIG. 4, the cloud platform manager 138is a container-based application including one or more containersincluding an example high availability (HA) proxy container 402, anexample vIDM container 404, an example vRO container 406, an examplecafe services container 408, an example Rabbit MQ container 410, anexample database container 412, an example configuration container 414,an example cloud manager configuration container 416, and an examplecontainer service container 418.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 4, the HA proxy container 402 is aproxy including one or more ports that can receive and/or transmitrequests. For example, the HA proxy container 402 may include port 443to obtain requests from the administrator 112 and/or the developer 114.In FIG. 4, the vIDM container 404 is an identity manager provided byVMware®, Inc., to facilitate access to the cloud provider 108. In FIG.4, the vRO container 406 is a container includes services associatedwith vRealize® Orchestrator™ (vRO) provided by VMware®, Inc., toschedule and automate tasks for execution by the cloud provider 108. InFIG. 4, the cafe services container 408 is a container that includesservices associated with vRA provided by VMware®, Inc. In FIG. 4, theRabbit MQ container 410 is a container corresponding to message-brokersoftware to support streaming text oriented messaging protocol, messagequeuing telemetry transport, and other protocols.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 4, the database container 412 is arelational database management system that can handle workloads rangingfrom single-machine applications to Web services or data warehousingwith many concurrent users. In FIG. 4, the configuration container 414is a container that includes the configuration capabilities (e.g.,configuration parameters, configuration blueprints, configurationsettings, etc.) of the cloud platform manager 138. In some examples, theconfiguration capabilities are cloned and/or otherwise obtained from thecloud manager installer 104. In FIG. 4, the cloud manager configurationcontainer 416 includes data (e.g., information from the database 150,the blueprint 136 a, etc.) cloned and/or otherwise obtained from thecloud manager installer 104 to manage the application 116 of FIG. 1. Forexample, the cloud manager configuration container 416 may be executedby the lifecycle controller 148 of FIG. 1 to manage the application 116.In FIG. 4, the container service container 418 is a container that canbe used by the cafe services container 408 to provide the containerprovisioning features for the container platform manager 102 of FIG. 1.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 4, the cloud provider 108 includes anexample web server 420, an example management service (MS) server 422,an example endpoint 424, and an example agent 426. In FIG. 4, the cloudplatform manager 138 instructs the cloud provider 108 to provisionvirtual resources and/or other cloud computing operations via the webserver 422. In FIG. 4, the cloud platform manager 138 obtains feedbackor other information from the MS server 422. In FIG. 4, the endpoint 424and the agent 426 are used by the cloud provider 108 to establish thevirtual computing environment 106 of FIG. 1 to provision and execute theapplication 116 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 depicts a portion of an example blueprint 500 in human-readableform. In FIG. 5, the blueprint 500 is in human-readable text to enablethe administrator 112, the developer 114, etc., of FIG. 1 to generate,edit, and/or otherwise modify the blueprint 500 with a text editor orother program of choice. The blueprint 500 of FIG. 5 includes machinecomponents, software, networking, and properties in YAML format.Alternatively, the blueprint 500 may be in a different format.

Flowcharts representative of example hardware logic, machine readableinstructions, hardware implemented state machines, and/or anycombination thereof for implementing the example container platformmanager 102, the example cloud manager installer 104, and/or the examplecloud platform manager 138 of FIG. 1 are shown in FIGS. 6-11. Themachine readable instructions may be an executable program or portion ofan executable program for execution by a computer processor such as theprocessor 1212 shown in the example processor platform 1200 discussedbelow in connection with FIG. 12 and/or the processor 1312 shown in theexample processor platform 1300 discussed below in connection with FIG.13. The program may be embodied in software stored on a non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a floppy disk, a harddrive, a DVD, a Blu-ray disk, or a memory associated with the processor1212 of FIG. 12 and/or the processor 1312 of FIG. 13, but the entireprogram and/or parts thereof could alternatively be executed by a deviceother than the processor 1212 of FIG. 12 and/or the processor 1312 ofFIG. 13 and/or embodied in firmware or dedicated hardware. Further,although the example program is described with reference to theflowcharts illustrated in FIGS. 6-11, many other methods of implementingthe example container platform manager 102, the example cloud managerinstaller 104, and/or the example cloud platform manager 138 mayalternatively be used. For example, the order of execution of the blocksmay be changed, and/or some of the blocks described may be changed,eliminated, or combined. Additionally or alternatively, any or all ofthe blocks may be implemented by one or more hardware circuits (e.g.,discrete and/or integrated analog and/or digital circuitry, an FPGA, anASIC, a comparator, an operational-amplifier (op-amp), a logic circuit,etc.) structured to perform the corresponding operation withoutexecuting software or firmware.

As mentioned above, the example processes of FIGS. 6-11 may beimplemented using executable instructions (e.g., computer and/or machinereadable instructions) stored on a non-transitory computer and/ormachine readable medium such as a hard disk drive, a flash memory, aread-only memory, a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a cache, arandom-access memory, and/or any other storage device or storage disk inwhich information is stored for any duration (e.g., for extended timeperiods, permanently, for brief instances, for temporarily buffering,and/or for caching of the information). As used herein, the termnon-transitory computer readable medium is expressly defined to includeany type of computer readable storage device and/or storage disk and toexclude propagating signals and to exclude transmission media.

“Including” and “comprising” (and all forms and tenses thereof) are usedherein to be open ended terms. Thus, whenever a claim employs any formof “include” or “comprise” (e.g., comprises, includes, comprising,including, having, etc.) as a preamble or within a claim recitation ofany kind, it is to be understood that additional elements, terms, etc.may be present without falling outside the scope of the correspondingclaim or recitation. As used herein, when the phrase “at least” is usedas the transition term in, for example, a preamble of a claim, it isopen-ended in the same manner as the term “comprising” and “including”are open ended. The term “and/or” when used, for example, in a form suchas A, B, and/or C refers to any combination or subset of A, B, C such as(1) A alone, (2) B alone, (3) C alone, (4) A with B, (5) A with C, (6) Bwith C, and (7) A with B and with C. As used herein in the context ofdescribing structures, components, items, objects and/or things, thephrase “at least one of A and B” is intended to refer to implementationsincluding any of (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B, and (3) atleast one A and at least one B. Similarly, as used herein in the contextof describing structures, components, items, objects and/or things, thephrase “at least one of A or B” is intended to refer to implementationsincluding any of (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B, and (3) atleast one A and at least one B. As used herein in the context ofdescribing the performance or execution of processes, instructions,actions, activities and/or steps, the phrase “at least one of A and B”is intended to refer to implementations including any of (1) at leastone A, (2) at least one B, and (3) at least one A and at least one B.Similarly, as used herein in the context of describing the performanceor execution of processes, instructions, actions, activities and/orsteps, the phrase “at least one of A or B” is intended to refer toimplementations including any of (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B,and (3) at least one A and at least one B.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions 600 that may be executed to implement the containerplatform manager 102 of FIG. 1 and the cloud manager installer 104 ofFIGS. 1, 2, 3, and/or 4 to provision the virtual computing environment106 of FIG. 1. The machine readable instructions 600 begin at block 602,at which the user interface 358 of FIG. 3 executed by the cloud managerinstaller 104 of FIG. 1 starts and displays an end user licenseagreement (EULA). For example, the cloud manager installer 104 maydisplay an installation wizard to facilitate the machine readableinstructions 600 of FIG. 6.

At block 604, the user interface 358 of the cloud manager installer 104obtains a deployment type. For example, the user interface 358 mayobtain a deployment type such as a minimal instance deployment, anenterprise deployment, etc., from the administrator 112, the developer114, etc.

At block 606, the user interface 358 obtains a decision whether to addexisting container hosts. For example, the user interface 358 may obtaincontainer information from the administrator 112, the developer 114,etc., corresponding to adding one or more of the containers 122 of FIG.1.

If, at block 606, the user interface 358 obtains the decision to addexisting container hosts, then, at block 608, the cloud managerinstaller 104 adds a host API. For example, the infrastructurecontroller 146 may add and configure one of the containers 122 based onthe container information. In such examples, the infrastructurecontroller 146 can add an API associated with obtaining, configuring,and/or deploying the one of the containers 122 to the secondcommunication interface 140 to invoke. For example, the secondcommunication interface 140 may invoke the API to obtain one or morecontainers 122 from the container database 132 of FIG. 1. In otherexamples, the second communication interface 140 may transmit the API tothe cloud provider 108 to obtain one or more containers 122 from thecontainer database 132.

At block 610, the container platform manager 102 creates credentialsassociated with the added host API. For example, the containercontroller 126 of FIG. 1 may generate credentials to be used by thecloud provider 108, the administrator 112, the developer 114, etc., todeploy and/or control the containers 122. At block 612, the containerplatform manager 102 adds the host. For example, the containercontroller 126 may add the one or more containers 122 to an installationto be provisioned to the virtual computing environment 106 of FIG. 1. Inresponse to adding the host at block 612, control returns to block 614to determine whether to create hosts with the user interface 358.

If, at block 606, the user interface 358 does not obtain the decision toadd existing container hosts, then, at block 614, the user interface 358determines whether to create hosts. For example, the user interface 358may obtain a decision and/or host information from the administrator112, the developer 114, etc., to create one or more hosts, such as theVMs 110 of FIG. 1.

If, at block 614, the user interface 358 determines to create hosts,then, at block 616, the cloud manager installer 104 creates a host API.For example, the infrastructure controller 146 may generate and/orconfigure one of the VMs 110 based on the host information. In suchexamples, the infrastructure controller 146 can add an API associatedwith provisioning, configuring, and/or deploying the one of the VMs 110to the second communication interface 140 to invoke. For example, thesecond communication interface 140 may invoke the API to instruct thecloud provider 108 to generate the one or more VMs 110 based onspecified virtual resources obtained from the administrator 112, thedeveloper 114, etc. In other examples, the second communicationinterface 140 can transmit the API to the cloud provider 108 to invokethe API to provision the VMs 110.

At block 618, the container platform manager 102 creates credentialsassociated with the created host API. For example, the containercontroller 126 of FIG. 1 may generate credentials to be used by thecloud provider 108, the administrator 112, the developer 114, etc., todeploy and/or control the VMs 110. At block 620, the container platformmanager 102 creates an endpoint. For example, the container controller126 may add the one or more endpoints 156 to an installation to beprovisioned to the virtual computing environment 106 of FIG. 1. Inresponse to creating the endpoint at block 620, the container platformmanager 102 creates the host. For example, the container platformmanager 102 can create a first one of the endpoints 156 at block 620 andcreate a first one of the VMs 110 to include the first one of theendpoints 156 at block 622. In response to creating the host at block622, control returns to block 624 to collect installation (INSTALL)details.

If, at block 614, the user interface 358 does not determine to createhosts, then, at block 624, the user interface 358 collects installationdetails. For example, the installation wizard displayed by the userinterface 358 may obtain configuration and/or installation informationfor the VMs 110, the containers 122, and/or, more generally, the virtualcomputing environment 106. For example, the user interface 358 mayobtain details from the administrator 112, the developer 114, etc.,corresponding to how to configure, install, and/or otherwise provisionthe installation 300 of FIG. 3.

At block 626, the user interface 358 triggers the installation. Forexample, the user interface 358 may obtain a command or instruction tobegin the installation of one or more of the deployment environments 120a-c, the VMs 110 in the first deployment environment 120 a, thecontainers 122 in the second deployment environment 120 b, etc.

At block 628, the cloud manager installer 104 generates a blueprint. Forexample, the blueprint controller 144 of FIG. 1 may generate theblueprint 136 a of FIG. 1 based on at least one of the hosts added atblock 612 and/or block 614, the installation details collected at block624, etc.

At block 630, the cloud manager installer 104 deploys the blueprint. Forexample, the blueprint controller 144 may transmit the blueprint 136 ato the container platform manager 102 to provision the virtual computingenvironment 106 based on the blueprint 136 a. In other examples, theblueprint controller 144 can execute machine readable instructionscorresponding to the blueprint 500 of FIG. 5 to instruct the cloudprovider 108 to provision the virtual computing environment 106 with theVMs 110, the containers 122, etc., via the communication abstractionlayer 152 of the second communication interface 140.

At block 632, the container platform manager 102 provisions theblueprint. For example, the execution environment 128 of FIG. 1 mayinvoke the first communication interface 124 to transmit data to thecloud provider 108 to provision the virtual computing environment 106.In such examples, the first communication interface 124 can provide oneor more APIs to the cloud provider 108 to obtain one or more of thecontainers 122 from the container database 132, one or more softwarepackages (e.g., the load balancer 310 of FIG. 3, the vAs 320, 322, 324of FIG. 3, the component servers 330, 332, 334, 336 of FIG. 3, etc.)from the software database 154.

At block 634, the container platform manager 102 provides aninstallation progress to the cloud manager installer 104. At block 636,the user interface 358 presents the installation progress to a user(e.g., the administrator 112, the developer 114, etc.). At block 638,the user interface 358 determines whether the installation is complete.For example, the user interface 358 may determine that the installation300 of FIG. 3 corresponding to the virtual computing environment 106 ofFIG. 1 is complete based on a completed installation status obtainedfrom the cloud manager installer 104 via the container platform manager102. In response to the user interface 358 determining that theinstallation is complete, the machine readable instructions 600 of FIG.6 conclude.

FIG. 7 is flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions 700 that may be executed to implement the containerplatform manager 102 and the cloud manager installer 104 of FIG. 1 toprovision the virtual computing environment 106 of FIG. 1. For example,the machine readable instructions 700 of FIG. 7 can provision thevirtual computing environment 106 as an entity of the cloud platformmanager 138 and, thus, allowing the cloud platform manager 138 tocontrol, monitor, and/or otherwise manage components (e.g., the virtualcomputing environment 106) of the cloud platform manager 138. Themachine readable instructions 700 of FIG. 7 begin at block 702, at whichthe user interface 358 of FIG. 3 of the cloud manager installer 104 ofFIG. 1 starts and displays a EULA. For example, the cloud managerinstaller 104 may display an installation wizard to facilitate themachine readable instructions 700 of FIG. 7.

At block 704, the user interface 358 collects installationinfrastructure data. For example, the user interface 358 may obtainvirtual environment data from the administrator 112, the developer 114,etc. In such examples, the virtual environment data can includeinformation corresponding to where to deploy the virtual computingenvironment 106, such as the cloud provider 108 of FIG. 1. For example,the virtual environment data may include an account (e.g., a user name,a password, and/or other credentials) of the administrator 112, thedeveloper 114, etc., with the cloud provider 108.

At block 706, the cloud manager installer 104 creates a cloud managedendpoint for the virtual environment. For example, the infrastructurecontroller 146 may generate and/or configure one or more of theendpoints 156 of FIG. 1. In such examples, the infrastructure controller146 may generate and/or configure the endpoints 156 and instruct thecloud provider 108 to deploy the endpoints 156 to the VMs 110.

At block 708, the user interface 358 collects installation specificdata. For example, the user interface 358 may obtain customer data(e.g., data from the administrator 112, the developer 114, etc.)including certificates (e.g., security certificates), usernames and/orpasswords, a size (e.g., a quantity of virtual resources includingcompute, storage, network, security, etc., resources) of the virtualcomputing environment 106 to be deployed, a quantity of instances of thevirtual resources (e.g., 5 GHz of compute resources, 10 GB RAM ofstorage resources, 3 terabytes (TB) of HDD storage resources, etc.),etc.

At block 710, the user interface 358 loads a cloud software deploymentblueprint. For example, the user interface 358 may obtain the blueprint136 from the blueprint database 134 of FIG. 1. In such examples, theblueprint 136 may be stored locally as the blueprint 136 a. In suchexamples, the user interface 358 can obtain modifications to an obtainedone of the blueprints 136 a and store a modified one of the blueprints136 a in the database 150 of FIG. 1.

At block 712, the user interface 358 replaces user data. For example,the user interface 358 may display suggestions and/or defaults to a userto modify and/or otherwise complete a generation of the blueprint 136 a.In such examples, the developer 114 of FIG. 1 may not have specified anIP port for one of the component servers 330, 332, 334, 336 tocommunicate with the Internet. Accordingly, the user interface 358 mayprovide a suggestion to specify a default IP port, such as port 80, inthe blueprint 136 a to complete the blueprint 136 a.

At block 714, the cloud manager installer 104 uploads and requestsprovisioning of the blueprint. For example, the blueprint controller 144of FIG. 1 may store the blueprint 136 a in the database 150. In suchexamples, the second communication interface 140 can obtain theblueprint 136 a from the database 150 and package the blueprint 136 ainto one or more files (e.g., a YAML file, a compressed file format(e.g., .zip, .zipx, etc.)), etc.), messages (e.g., HTTP packets), etc.,to be transmitted to the cloud provider 108 of FIG. 1. Accordingly, thecloud manager installer 104 may transmit the blueprint 136 a to thecloud provider 108 to establish the virtual computing environment 106,execute one or more instructions of the blueprint 136 a to instruct thecloud provider 108 to provision the VMs 110, the containers 122, etc.,to the virtual computing environment, etc., and/or a combinationthereof.

At block 716, the cloud provider 108 provisions an instance of the cloudplatform manager 138 as defined in the blueprint 136 a. For example,based on the blueprint 136 a, the cloud provider 108 may establish thevirtual computing environment 106, provision the VMs 110 in the firstdeployment environment 120 a, provision the containers 122 in the seconddeployment environment 120 b, retrieve software from the softwaredatabase 154 to configure the VMs 110 and/or virtual resourcesassociated with the VMs 110, etc. For example, the cloud provider 108may obtain instructions from the cloud manager installer 104 toprovision the cloud platform manager 138 to one or more of the VMs 110as defined in the blueprint 136 a to manage a lifecycle of theapplication 116.

At block 718, the cloud manager installer 104 backups currentenvironment data. For example, the cloud manager installer 104 may makea copy of the database 150 including the blueprint 136 a. At block 720,the cloud manager installer 104 exports the data to the cloud platformmanager 138. For example, the second communication interface 140 maytransmit data including an instance of the database 150, the blueprint136 a, and/or any other configuration data, parameter information, etc.,associated with installing the cloud platform manager 138.

At block 720, the cloud platform manager 138 becomes an entity of itselfand, thus, allowing it to manage an application lifecycle. For example,the cloud platform manager 138 includes the blueprint 136 a used todeploy the cloud platform manager 138. In such examples, the cloudplatform manager 138 can consider itself as an application that thecloud platform manager 138 has provisioned and, thus, can control,monitor, and/or otherwise manage. By including the cloud managerinstaller 104 in the cloud platform manager 138, the cloud platformmanager 138 can execute the lifecycle controller 148 of the cloudmanager installer 104 to manage a lifecycle of the application and/or,in some examples, modify one or more components (e.g., virtualresources, the VMs 110, the containers 122, etc.) of the application116. In response to the cloud platform manager 138 becoming an entity ofitself, the machine readable instructions 700 of FIG. 7 conclude.

Advantageously, because the lifecycle controller 148 can interpret theblueprint 136 a based on being a part of the cloud manager installer 104that provisioned the blueprint 136 a, a modification to the blueprint136 a can facilitate a modification to a corresponding component of theapplication 116. For example, in response to obtaining a modification tothe blueprint, the lifecycle controller 148 may identify a virtualresource affected by the modification and invoke the endpoint 156 toredeploy the virtual resource having the modification. Advantageously,by modifying the application 116 based on modifying the blueprint 136 a,a different one of the cloud manager installer 104 does not have to beconfigured, built, and deployed by a team of developers compared toprior techniques.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions 800 that may be executed to implement the containerplatform manager 102 and the cloud manager installer 104 of FIG. 1 toprovision and manage the virtual computing environment 106 of FIG. 1.The machine readable instructions 800 of FIG. 8 begin at block 802, atwhich the container platform manager 102 executes a cloud managerinstaller container to generate a cloud platform manager. For example,the first communication interface 124 of FIG. 1 may obtain the cloudmanager installer 104 from the container database 132. In such examples,the container controller 126 of FIG. 1 can execute the cloud managerinstaller 104 to generate the cloud platform manager 138 of FIG. 1.

At block 804, the cloud manager installer 104 configures a cloudcomputing environment for a cloud computing application. For example,the user interface 358 of FIG. 3 and/or the environment controller 142of FIG. 1 may obtain virtual environment information from theadministrator 112, the developer 114, etc., to execute the application116 of FIG. 1. In such examples, the virtual environment information caninclude cloud provider information including an identification of thecloud provider 108, a user account (e.g., login credentials, useraccount credentials, etc.) of the cloud provider 108, etc.

At block 806, the cloud manager installer 104 generates virtualinfrastructure endpoint(s) to monitor the cloud computing application.For example, the environment controller 142 may generate one or more ofthe endpoints 156 of FIG. 1 based on the virtual environmentinformation.

At block 808, the cloud manager installer 104 generates a blueprint forthe cloud computing application. For example, the blueprint controller144 of FIG. 1 may obtain one of the blueprints 136 from the blueprintdatabase 134 of FIG. 1. In such examples, the blueprint controller 144can store an instance of the blueprint 136 a in the database 150. Theblueprint controller 144 can modify the blueprint 136 a to includecomputer-executable scripts and/or services to be executed, APIs to becalled or invoked, virtual resources (e.g., compute, storage, network,security, etc., virtual resources, the load balancer 310 of FIG. 3,etc.) to be provisioned, software and/or firmware to be obtained fromthe software database 154, etc. In some examples, the blueprintcontroller 144 stores the blueprint 136 a in the database 150, where theblueprint 136 a may be obtained from the blueprint database 134 and/ormodified after obtaining from the blueprint database 134.

At block 810, the cloud manager installer 104 determines virtualinfrastructure based on the blueprint. For example, the infrastructurecontroller 146 of FIG. 1 may determine a quantity, a type, and/orversion of one or more virtual resources including at least one ofcompute resources, storage resources, network resources, securityresources, etc., based on the blueprint 136 a.

At block 812, the cloud manager installer 104 determines containerimage(s) based on the blueprint. For example, the infrastructurecontroller 146 may identify one or more of the containers 122 of FIG. 1to configure and/or deploy to the virtual computing environment 106. Insuch examples, the infrastructure controller 146 can identify one ormore APIs that, when invoked, can retrieve and/or configure thecontainers 122 from the container database 132 of FIG. 1.

At block 814, the cloud manager installer 104 provisions virtualinfrastructure and container image(s) based on the blueprint. Forexample, the second communication interface 140 may invoke the cloudprovider 108 to provision the VMs 110, the containers 122, etc., via thecommunication abstraction layer 152 based on the blueprint 136 a.

At block 816, the cloud manager installer 104 installs the cloudplatform manager in the cloud computing environment. For example, thesecond communication interface 140 may transmit data including a copy ofthe database 150, the blueprint 136 a included in the database 150,etc., to the VM 110. In such examples, the second communicationinterface 140 can transmit the data to the cloud provider 108 toprovision to one or more VMs 110 of interest or, in other examples, thesecond communication interface 140 can transmit the data to the one ormore VMs 110 of interest.

At block 818, the cloud manager installer 104 performs lifecycle cloudmanagement of the cloud computing application. For example, the cloudplatform manager 138 may execute the cloud manager installer 104included in the cloud platform manager 138 to oversee and/or otherwisemanage a lifecycle of the application 116. In such examples, the cloudplatform manager 138 can invoke the lifecycle controller 148 of FIG. 1to determine whether the blueprint 136 a has been modified, a differentone of the blueprints 136 a has been obtained, etc. In other examples,the lifecycle controller 148 can determine whether to decommission theapplication 116 after one or more computing workloads has beencompleted. Example processes that may be used to implement block 818 isdescribed below in connection with FIGS. 9-10.

At block 820, the cloud manager installer 104 determines whether tocontinue monitoring the cloud computing application. For example, thelifecycle controller 148 and/or, more generally, the cloud platformmanager 138 may determine to continue monitoring the application 116while the application 116 is executing one or more computing workloads.If, at block 820, the cloud manager installer 104 executing on the VM110 determines to continue monitoring the cloud computing application,control returns to block 818 to perform lifecycle cloud management ofthe cloud computing platform, otherwise the machine readableinstructions 800 of FIG. 8 conclude.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart representative of an example implementation ofblock 818 corresponding to machine readable instructions that may beexecuted to implement the cloud platform manager 138 of FIG. 1 toperform lifecycle cloud management of the cloud computing application.The example implementation of block 818 begins at block 902, at whichthe cloud platform manager 138 determines whether a request to modify ablueprint has been obtained. For example, the lifecycle controller 148of FIG. 1 may determine that the administrator 112, the developer 114,etc., of FIG. 1 has requested to modify the blueprint 136 a associatedwith and/or otherwise used to deploy the cloud platform manager 138.

If, at block 904, the cloud platform manager 138 determines that arequest to modify the blueprint has not been obtained, the exampleimplementation of block 818 as illustrated in FIG. 9 returns to block820 of the machine readable instructions 800 of FIG. 8 to determinewhether to continue monitoring the cloud computing application. If, atblock 904, the cloud platform manager 138 determines that a request tomodify the blueprint has been obtained, then, at block 906, the cloudplatform manager 138 extracts blueprint modification information (BMI)from the request. For example, the lifecycle controller 148 may extractone or more modifications including a first modification to a virtualresource to be applied to the blueprint 136 a from the request.

At block 906, the cloud platform manager 138 validates the BMI. Forexample, the lifecycle controller 148 may compare the first modificationto the virtual resource to a definition, a policy, etc., of the virtualresource stored in the blueprint database 134 of FIG. 1. In suchexamples, the lifecycle controller 148 can determine that the firstmodification is valid based on the comparison.

At block 908, the cloud platform manager 138 determines whether thevalidation is successful. For example, the lifecycle controller 148 maydetermine that the first modification violates and/or is otherwise notcompatible with the definition, the policy, etc., of the virtualresource as specified in the blueprint database 134. In other examples,the lifecycle controller 148 can determine that the first modificationcan result in the virtual resource having a valid definition, policy,etc., after applying the first modification based on the comparison.

If, at block 908, the cloud platform manager 138 determines that thevalidation is not successful, then, at block 910, the cloud platformmanager 138 generates an alert to a requester that an operation hasfailed. For example, the lifecycle controller 148 may generate an alertto the administrator 112, the developer 114, a computing device, etc.,that requested to modify the blueprint 136 a indicative that themodification is not valid. In such examples, the alert can identify asuggestion, a recommendation, etc., to modify the request to facilitatea valid modification. In response to generating the alert at block 910,the example implementation of block 818 as illustrated in FIG. 9 returnsto block 820 of the machine readable instructions 800 of FIG. 8 todetermine whether to continue monitoring the cloud computingapplication.

If, at block 908, the cloud platform manager 138 determines that thevalidation is successful, control proceeds to block 912 to modify theblueprint. For example, the lifecycle controller 148 may modify theblueprint 136 a stored by the cloud platform manager 138.

At block 914, the cloud platform manager 138 updates the cloud platformmanager 138 with the modified blueprint. For example, the lifecyclecontroller 148 may relaunch and/or otherwise redeploy the cloud platformmanager 138 having the modified blueprint 136 a, based on the modifiedblueprint 136 a, etc. Advantageously, in such examples, the cloudmanager installer 104 can be reused with a modified blueprint instead ofregenerating and/or otherwise rebuilding the cloud manager installer104.

At block 916, the cloud platform manager 138 executes the updated cloudplatform manager 138. For example, the cloud platform manager 138 may beexecuted having the updated blueprint 136 a based on the firstmodification. In such examples, the cloud platform manager 138 canmanage the application 116 based on the updated blueprint 136 a.

At block 918, the cloud platform manager 138 identifies resource(s)affected by the BMI. For example, the lifecycle controller 148 maydetermine that the first modification is an upgrade to software and/orfirmware associated with the load balancer 310 of FIG. 3. In suchexamples, the lifecycle controller 148 can identify that the loadbalancer 310 is affected by the first modification.

At block 920, the cloud platform manager 138 redeploys the resource(s)based on the BMI. For example, the lifecycle controller 148 may invokethe endpoint 340 of FIG. 3 to shutdown, upgrade, and restart the loadbalancer 310. An example process that may be used to implement block 920is described below in connection with FIG. 11.

At block 922, the cloud platform manager 138 determines whether theredeployment(s) are successful. For example, the lifecycle controller148 may determine that the load balancer 310 has been successfullyupdated. In other examples, the lifecycle controller 148 can determinethat the load balancer 310 has not been successfully updated bytransmitting a ping message to the load balancer 310 and not receivingan acknowledgment or reply message from the load balancer 310, a timeout has occurred prior to receiving the acknowledgment or reply message,etc.

If, at block 922, the cloud platform manager 138 determines that theredeployment(s) are not successful, control returns to block 910 togenerate an alert to the requester that the operation has failed. If, atblock 922, the cloud platform manager 138 determines that theredeployment(s) are successful, the example implementation of block 818as illustrated in FIG. 9 returns to block 820 of the machine readableinstructions 800 of FIG. 8 to determine whether to continue monitoringthe cloud computing application.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart representative of an example implementation ofblock 818 corresponding to machine readable instructions that may beexecuted to implement the cloud platform manager 138 of FIG. 1 toperform lifecycle cloud management of the cloud computing application.The example implementation of block 818 illustrated in FIG. 10 begins atblock 1002, at which the cloud platform manager 138 determines whether anew blueprint has been obtained. In an example where the blueprint 136 astored by the cloud platform manager 138 is a first blueprint (e.g., astored blueprint), the lifecycle controller 148 of FIG. 1 may determinethat a second blueprint has been obtained from the administrator 112,the developer 114, a computing device, etc.

If, at block 1002, the cloud platform manager 138 determines that a newblueprint has not been obtained, the example implementation of block 818as illustrated in FIG. 10 returns to block 820 of the machine readableinstructions 800 of FIG. 8 to determine whether to continue monitoringthe cloud computing application.

If, at block 1002, the cloud platform manager 138 determines that a newblueprint has been obtained, then, at block 1004, the cloud platformmanager 138 determines whether the new blueprint is different from thestored blueprint. For example, the lifecycle controller 148 may comparethe first blueprint and the second blueprint and identify one or moredifferences or modifications based on the comparison. If, at block 1004,the cloud platform manager 138 determines that the new blueprint is notdifferent from the stored blueprint, the example implementation of block818 as illustrated in FIG. 10 returns to block 820 of the machinereadable instructions 800 of FIG. 8 to determine whether to continuemonitoring the cloud computing application.

If, at block 1004, the cloud platform manager 138 determines that thenew blueprint is different from the stored blueprint, then, at block1006, the cloud platform manager 138 identifies virtual resource(s)affected by the new blueprint. For example, the lifecycle controller 148may determine that the new blueprint includes a first modification toone of the VMs 110, one of the containers 122, etc. In such examples,the lifecycle controller 148 can identify the one of the VMs, the one ofthe containers, etc., as being affected by a first modificationcorresponding to BMI included in the second blueprint.

At block 1008, the cloud platform manager 138 validates blueprintmodification information (BMI) included in the new blueprint. Forexample, the lifecycle controller 148 may determine that the newblueprint includes a first modification to the virtual resource to adefinition, a policy, etc., of the virtual resource stored in theblueprint database 134 of FIG. 1. In such examples, the lifecyclecontroller 148 can determine that the first modification is valid basedon the comparison.

At block 1010, the cloud platform manager 138 determines whether thevalidation is successful. For example, the lifecycle controller 148 maydetermine that the first modification violates and/or is otherwise notcompatible with the definition, the policy, etc., of the virtualresource as specified in the blueprint database 134. In other examples,the lifecycle controller 148 can determine that the first modificationcan result in the virtual resource having a valid definition, policy,etc., after applying the first modification based on the comparison.

If, at block 1010, the cloud platform manager 138 determines that thevalidation is not successful, then, at block 1012, the cloud platformmanager 138 generates an alert to a requester that an operation hasfailed. For example, the lifecycle controller 148 may generate an alertto the administrator 112, the developer 114, a computing deviceassociated with the administrator 112 or the developer 114, etc., thatrequested to modify the blueprint 136 a, where the alert is indicativethat the modification is not valid. In such examples, the alert canidentify a suggestion, a recommendation, etc., to modify the request tofacilitate a valid modification. In response to generating the alert atblock 1012, the example implementation of block 818 as illustrated inFIG. 10 returns to block 820 of the machine readable instructions 800 ofFIG. 8 to determine whether to continue monitoring the cloud computingapplication.

If, at block 1010, the cloud platform manager 138 determines that thevalidation is successful, control proceeds to block 1014 to replace thestored blueprint with the new blueprint. For example, the lifecyclecontroller 148 may replace the blueprint 136 a stored by the cloudplatform manager 138 with the new blueprint.

At block 1016, the cloud platform manager 138 updates the cloud platformmanager 138 with the new blueprint. For example, the lifecyclecontroller 148 may relaunch and/or otherwise redeploy the cloud platformmanager 138 having the second blueprint, based on the second blueprint,etc. Advantageously, in such examples, the cloud manager installer 104can be reused with the second blueprint instead of regenerating and/orotherwise rebuilding the cloud manager installer 104 based on the secondblueprint.

At block 1018, the cloud platform manager 138 executes the updated cloudplatform manager 138. For example, the cloud platform manager 138 may beexecuted having the second blueprint. In such examples, the cloudplatform manager 138 can manage the application 116 based on the secondblueprint.

At block 1020, the cloud platform manager 138 redeploys the resource(s)based on the BMI. For example, the lifecycle controller 148 may invokethe endpoint 340 of FIG. 3 to shutdown, upgrade, and restart one or moreof the VMs 110, one or more of the containers 122, etc. An exampleprocess that may be used to implement block 1020 is described below inconnection with FIG. 11.

At block 1022, the cloud platform manager 138 determines whether theredeployment(s) are successful. For example, the lifecycle controller148 may determine that one or more of the VMs 110 have been successfullyupdated. In other examples, the lifecycle controller 148 can determinethat one or more of the VMs 110 have not been successfully updated bytransmitting a ping message to the one or more VMs 110 and not receivingan acknowledgment or reply message from the one or more VMs 110, a timeout has occurred prior to receiving the acknowledgment or reply message,etc.

If, at block 1022, the cloud platform manager 138 determines that theredeployment(s) are not successful, control returns to block 1012 togenerate an alert to the requester that the operation has failed. If, atblock 1022, the cloud platform manager 138 determines that theredeployment(s) are successful, the example implementation of block 818as illustrated in FIG. 10 returns to block 820 of the machine readableinstructions 800 of FIG. 8 to determine whether to continue monitoringthe cloud computing application.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart representative of an example implementation ofblock 920 and/or block 1020 corresponding to machine readableinstructions that may be executed to implement the cloud platformmanager 138 of FIG. 1 to redeploy resource(s) based on BMI. The exampleimplementation of block 920 and/or block 1020 as illustrated in FIG. 12begins at block 1202, at which the cloud platform manager 138 configuresnew virtual resource(s) with modification(s) that correspond toidentified virtual resource(s). For example, the lifecycle controller148 of FIG. 1 may identify the load balancer 310 of FIG. 3 as beingaffected by a first modification associated with a new blueprint, amodification to a stored blueprint, etc., associated with the cloudplatform manager 138. In such examples, the lifecycle controller 148 caninvoke the cloud provider 108 to configure another instance of the loadbalancer 310 with the first modification.

At block 1104, the cloud platform manager 138 provisions the new virtualresource(s) to the cloud computing application. For example, thelifecycle controller 148 may invoke the cloud provider 108 to provisionthe modified load balancer 310 to the application 116 of FIG. 1.

At block 1106, the cloud platform manager 138 transfers workload(s) fromthe identified virtual resource(s) to the new virtual resource(s). Forexample, the lifecycle controller 148 may invoke the VMs 110 to transferone or more computing workloads from the previously provisioned loadbalancer 310 to the modified load balancer 310.

At block 1108, the cloud platform manager 138 decommissions theidentified virtual resource(s). For example, the lifecycle controller148 may invoke the cloud provider 108 to return the previouslyprovisioned load balancer 310 to a pool of virtual resources. In otherexamples, the lifecycle controller 148 can instruct the cloud provider108 to uninstall and/or otherwise remove the previously provisioned loadbalancer 310 from the application 116.

At block 1110, the cloud platform manager 138 executes the cloudcomputing application with the new virtual resource(s). For example, thelifecycle controller 148 may invoke the VMs 110 to execute theapplication 116 using the modified load balancer 310. In some examples,in response to executing the cloud computing application with the newvirtual resource(s) at block 1110, the example implementation of block920 as illustrated in FIG. 11 returns to block 922 of the example ofFIG. 9 to determine whether the redeployment(s) are successful. In someexamples, in response to executing the cloud computing application withthe new virtual resource(s) at block 1110, the example implementation ofblock 1020 as illustrated in FIG. 11 returns to block 1022 of theexample of FIG. 10 to determine whether the redeployment(s) aresuccessful.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an example processor platform 1200structured to execute the instructions of FIGS. 6-8 to implement thecontainer platform manager 102 and the cloud manager installer 104 ofFIG. 1. The processor platform 1200 can be, for example, a server, apersonal computer, a workstation, a self-learning machine (e.g., aneural network), or any other type of computing device.

The processor platform 1200 of the illustrated example includes aprocessor 1212. The processor 1212 of the illustrated example ishardware. For example, the processor 1212 can be implemented by one ormore integrated circuits, logic circuits, microprocessors, GPUs, DSPs,or controllers from any desired family or manufacturer. The hardwareprocessor may be a semiconductor based (e.g., silicon based) device. Inthis example, the processor 1212 implements the container platformmanager 102, the container controller 126, the execution environment128, the cloud manager installer 104, the environment controller 142,the blueprint controller 144, the infrastructure controller 146, and thelifecycle controller 148.

The processor 1212 of the illustrated example includes a local memory1213 (e.g., a cache). The processor 1212 of the illustrated example isin communication with a main memory including a volatile memory 1214 anda non-volatile memory 1216 via a bus 1218. The volatile memory 1214 maybe implemented by Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM),Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUS® Dynamic Random AccessMemory (RDRAM®), and/or any other type of random access memory device.The non-volatile memory 1216 may be implemented by flash memory and/orany other desired type of memory device. Access to the main memory 1214,1216 is controlled by a memory controller.

The processor platform 1200 of the illustrated example also includes aninterface circuit 1220. The interface circuit 1220 may be implemented byany type of interface standard, such as an Ethernet interface, auniversal serial bus (USB), a Bluetooth® interface, a near fieldcommunication (NFC) interface, and/or a PCI express interface. In thisexample, the interface circuit 1220 includes the first communicationinterface 124 and the second communication interface 140.

In the illustrated example, one or more input devices 1222 are connectedto the interface circuit 1220. The input device(s) 1222 permit(s) a userto enter data and/or commands into the processor 1212. The inputdevice(s) 1222 can be implemented by, for example, an audio sensor, amicrophone, a camera (still or video), a keyboard, a button, a mouse, atouchscreen, a track-pad, a trackball, an isopoint device, and/or avoice recognition system.

One or more output devices 1224 are also connected to the interfacecircuit 1220 of the illustrated example. The output devices 1224 can beimplemented, for example, by display devices (e.g., a light emittingdiode (LED), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD), a cathode ray tube display (CRT), an in-place switching(IPS) display, a touchscreen, etc.), a tactile output device, a printer,and/or speaker. The interface circuit 1220 of the illustrated example,thus, typically includes a graphics driver card, a graphics driver chip,and/or a graphics driver processor.

The interface circuit 1220 of the illustrated example also includes acommunication device such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, amodem, a residential gateway, a wireless access point, and/or a networkinterface to facilitate exchange of data with external machines (e.g.,computing devices of any kind) via a network 1226. The communication canbe via, for example, an Ethernet connection, a digital subscriber line(DSL) connection, a telephone line connection, a coaxial cable system, asatellite system, a line-of-site wireless system, a cellular telephonesystem, etc.

The processor platform 1200 of the illustrated example also includes oneor more mass storage devices 1228 for storing software and/or data.Examples of such mass storage devices 1228 include floppy disk drives,hard drive disks, compact disk drives, Blu-ray disk drives, redundantarray of independent disks (RAID) systems, and DVD drives. In thisexample, the one or more mass storage devices 1228 include and/orotherwise implement the database 150 of FIG. 1, which includes theblueprint 136 a of FIG. 1. Additionally or alternatively, the database150 and/or the blueprint 136 a of FIG. 1 may be included in and/orotherwise be implemented by the processor 1212.

The machine executable instructions 1232 of FIGS. 6-8 may be stored inthe mass storage device 1228, in the volatile memory 1214, in thenon-volatile memory 1216, and/or on a removable non-transitory computerreadable storage medium such as a CD or DVD.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of an example processor platform 1300structured to execute the instructions of FIGS. 9-11 to implement thecloud platform manager 138 of FIG. 1. The processor platform 1300 canbe, for example, a server, a personal computer, a workstation, aself-learning machine (e.g., a neural network), or any other type ofcomputing device.

The processor platform 1300 of the illustrated example includes aprocessor 1312. The processor 1312 of the illustrated example ishardware. For example, the processor 1312 can be implemented by one ormore integrated circuits, logic circuits, microprocessors, GPUs, DSPs,or controllers from any desired family or manufacturer. The hardwareprocessor may be a semiconductor based (e.g., silicon based) device. Inthis example, the processor 1312 implements the cloud manager installer104, the second communication interface 140, the environment controller142, the blueprint controller 144, the infrastructure controller 146,the lifecycle controller 148, the database 150, and the blueprint 136 aof FIG. 1.

The processor 1312 of the illustrated example includes a local memory1313 (e.g., a cache). The processor 1312 of the illustrated example isin communication with a main memory including a volatile memory 1314 anda non-volatile memory 1316 via a bus 1318. The volatile memory 1314 maybe implemented by Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM),Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUS® Dynamic Random AccessMemory (RDRAM®), and/or any other type of random access memory device.The non-volatile memory 1316 may be implemented by flash memory and/orany other desired type of memory device. Access to the main memory 1314,1316 is controlled by a memory controller.

The processor platform 1300 of the illustrated example also includes aninterface circuit 1320. The interface circuit 1320 may be implemented byany type of interface standard, such as an Ethernet interface, auniversal serial bus (USB), a Bluetooth® interface, a near fieldcommunication (NFC) interface, and/or a PCI express interface.Additionally or alternatively, the interface circuit 1220 may includethe second communication interface 140.

In the illustrated example, one or more input devices 1322 are connectedto the interface circuit 1320. The input device(s) 1322 permit(s) a userto enter data and/or commands into the processor 1312. The inputdevice(s) 1322 can be implemented by, for example, an audio sensor, amicrophone, a camera (still or video), a keyboard, a button, a mouse, atouchscreen, a track-pad, a trackball, an isopoint device, and/or avoice recognition system.

One or more output devices 1324 are also connected to the interfacecircuit 1320 of the illustrated example. The output devices 1324 can beimplemented, for example, by display devices (e.g., a light emittingdiode (LED), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD), a cathode ray tube display (CRT), an in-place switching(IPS) display, a touchscreen, etc.), a tactile output device, a printer,and/or speaker. The interface circuit 1320 of the illustrated example,thus, typically includes a graphics driver card, a graphics driver chip,and/or a graphics driver processor.

The interface circuit 1320 of the illustrated example also includes acommunication device such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, amodem, a residential gateway, a wireless access point, and/or a networkinterface to facilitate exchange of data with external machines (e.g.,computing devices of any kind) via a network 1326. The communication canbe via, for example, an Ethernet connection, a digital subscriber line(DSL) connection, a telephone line connection, a coaxial cable system, asatellite system, a line-of-site wireless system, a cellular telephonesystem, etc.

The processor platform 1300 of the illustrated example also includes oneor more mass storage devices 1328 for storing software and/or data.Examples of such mass storage devices 1328 include floppy disk drives,hard drive disks, compact disk drives, Blu-ray disk drives, RAIDsystems, and DVD drives. Additionally or alternatively, the one or moremass storage devices 1328 may include and/or otherwise implement thedatabase 150 and/or the blueprint 136 a of FIG. 1.

The machine executable instructions 1332 of FIGS. 9-11 may be stored inthe mass storage device 1328, in the volatile memory 1314, in thenon-volatile memory 1316, and/or on a removable non-transitory computerreadable storage medium such as a CD or DVD.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that example methods,apparatus, and articles of manufacture have been disclosed that improvecloud management by generating an example cloud manager installer todeploy an example cloud platform manager and, after the cloud platformmanager is deployed, embedding a portion and/or an instance of the cloudmanager installer in the deployed cloud platform manager. By embeddingthe example cloud manager installer in the deployed cloud platformmanager, lifecycle management of a cloud computing application can beexecuted by replacing, modifying, or adjusting a stored blueprint by thecloud platform manager. Accordingly, the existing example cloud managerinstaller can be reused to redeploy one or more virtual resourcesassociated with the cloud computing application instead of generating anew version of the cloud manager installer to redeploy an entirety ofthe cloud computing application. The disclosed methods, apparatus, andarticles of manufacture improve the efficiency of using a computingdevice by reusing a cloud platform manager installer to redeploy aportion of a cloud computing application using a new or modifiedblueprint and, thus, reduce downtime associated with upgrading ormodifying the cloud computing application. The disclosed methods,apparatus, and articles of manufacture are accordingly directed to oneor more improvement(s) in the functioning of a computer.

Example methods, apparatus, systems, and articles of manufacture toimprove cloud management are disclosed herein. Further examples andcombinations thereof include the following:

Example 1 includes an apparatus for deploying a cloud computingenvironment, the apparatus comprising at least one processor, and memoryincluding instructions that, when executed, cause the at least oneprocessor to execute a cloud manager installer generated by a containerplatform manager, the cloud manager installer is to configure a cloudcomputing environment based on environment information, determine one ormore virtual resources based on a blueprint, and deploy a cloud platformmanager in the cloud computing environment to manage a lifecycle of anapplication executing in the cloud computing environment by provisioningthe one or more virtual resources to the cloud computing environment,and installing the cloud platform manager in the cloud computingenvironment by storing the cloud manager installer and the blueprint inthe cloud computing environment.

Example 2 includes the apparatus of example 1, wherein the cloud managerinstaller is to determine one or more physical hardware resourcesassociated with the one or more virtual resources, configure one or morevirtual machines based on the one or more physical hardware resources,and provision the one or more virtual machines to the cloud computingenvironment to execute the application using the one or more physicalhardware resources.

Example 3 includes the apparatus of example 1, wherein the cloud managerinstaller is to in response to obtaining a container from a containerdatabase configure the container based on the environment information,and update the blueprint based on the container, and in response todeploying the cloud computing environment, invoke the cloud platformmanager to execute the application by executing the container.

Example 4 includes the apparatus of example 1, wherein the cloud managerinstaller is to in response to a request to modify the blueprint,determine whether the modification is valid, in response to determiningthat the modification is valid, modify the blueprint, identify a firstvirtual resource of the one or more virtual resources affected by themodification, the first virtual resource having a first configuration,and redeploy the first virtual resource with a second configurationbased on the modification, the second configuration different from thefirst configuration.

Example 5 includes the apparatus of example 4, wherein the cloud managerinstaller is to identify a second virtual resource having a dependencyon the first virtual resource based on the blueprint, determine that thesecond virtual resource is to be deployed before the first virtualresource based on the blueprint, and redeploy the second virtualresource before the first virtual resource.

Example 6 includes the apparatus of example 1, wherein the blueprint isa first blueprint, and the cloud manager installer is to in response tothe cloud computing environment obtaining a second blueprint, determinewhether the second blueprint is different from the first blueprint, inresponse to determining that the second blueprint is different from thefirst blueprint, determine that the second blueprint includes modifyinga first virtual resource of the one or more virtual resources from afirst configuration to a second configuration, in response todetermining that the second configuration is valid, replace the firstblueprint with the second blueprint, and redeploy the first virtualresource with the second configuration based on the second blueprint.

Example 7 includes the apparatus of example 6, wherein the secondblueprint includes modifying a second virtual resource of the one ormore virtual resources having the first configuration, and the cloudmanager installer is to configure a third virtual resource having thesecond configuration based on the second blueprint, provision the thirdvirtual resource to the cloud computing environment, transfer a workloadfrom the second virtual resource to the third virtual resource, anddecommission the second virtual resource from the cloud computingenvironment.

Example 8 includes a method for deploying a cloud computing environment,the method comprising executing a cloud manager installer generated by acontainer platform manager, the cloud manager installer to deploy acloud computing environment by configuring the cloud computingenvironment based on environment information, determining one or morevirtual resources based on a blueprint, and deploying a cloud platformmanager in the cloud computing environment to manage a lifecycle of anapplication executing in the cloud computing environment by provisioningthe one or more virtual resources to the cloud computing environment,and installing the cloud platform manager in the cloud computingenvironment by storing the cloud manager installer and the blueprint inthe cloud computing environment.

Example 9 includes the method of example 8, further includingdetermining one or more physical hardware resources associated with theone or more virtual resources, configuring one or more virtual machinesbased on the one or more physical hardware resources, and provisioningthe one or more virtual machines to the cloud computing environment toexecute the cloud computing application using the one or more physicalhardware resources.

Example 10 includes the method of example 8, further including inresponse to obtaining a container from a container database, theapplication to configure the container based on the environmentinformation, and update the blueprint based on the container, and inresponse to deploying the cloud computing environment, executing theapplication by executing the container.

Example 11 includes the method of example 8, further including inresponse to a request to modify the blueprint, determining whether themodification is valid, in response to determining that the modificationis valid, modifying the blueprint, identifying a first virtual resourceof the one or more virtual resources affected by the modification, thefirst virtual resource having a first configuration, and redeploying thefirst virtual resource with a second configuration based on themodification, the second configuration different from the firstconfiguration.

Example 12 includes the method of example 11, further includingidentifying a second virtual resource having a dependency on the firstvirtual resource based on the blueprint, determining that the secondvirtual resource is to be deployed before the first virtual resourcebased on the blueprint, and redeploying the second virtual resourcebefore the first virtual resource.

Example 13 includes the method of example 8, wherein the blueprint is afirst blueprint, and further including in response to the cloudcomputing environment obtaining a second blueprint, determining whetherthe second blueprint is different from the first blueprint, in responseto determining that the second blueprint is different from the firstblueprint, determining that the second blueprint includes modifying afirst virtual resource of the one or more virtual resources from a firstconfiguration to a second configuration, in response to determining thatthe second configuration is valid, replacing the first blueprint withthe second blueprint, and redeploying the first virtual resource withthe second configuration based on the second blueprint.

Example 14 includes the method of example 13, wherein the secondblueprint includes modifying a second virtual resource of the one ormore virtual resources having the first configuration, and furtherincluding configuring a third virtual resource having the secondconfiguration based on the second blueprint, provisioning the thirdvirtual resource to the cloud computing environment, transferring aworkload from the second virtual resource to the third virtual resource,and decommissioning the second virtual resource from the cloud computingenvironment.

Example 15 includes a non-transitory computer readable storage mediumcomprising instructions that, when executed, causes a machine to atleast execute a cloud manager installer generated by a containerplatform manager, the cloud manager installer is to configure a cloudcomputing environment based on environment information, determine one ormore virtual resources based on a blueprint, and deploy a cloud platformmanager in the cloud computing environment to manage a lifecycle of anapplication executing in the cloud computing environment by provisioningthe one or more virtual resources to the cloud computing environment,and installing the cloud platform manager in the cloud computingenvironment by storing the cloud manager installer and the blueprint inthe cloud computing environment.

Example 16 includes the non-transitory computer readable storage mediumof example 15, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause themachine to determine one or more physical hardware resources associatedwith the one or more virtual resources, configure one or more virtualmachines based on the one or more physical hardware resources, andprovision the one or more virtual machines to the cloud computingenvironment to execute the application using the one or more physicalhardware resources.

Example 17 includes the non-transitory computer readable storage mediumof example 15, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause themachine to in response to obtaining a container from a containerdatabase configure the container based on the environment information,and update the blueprint based on the container, and in response todeploying the cloud computing environment, execute the application byexecuting the container.

Example 18 includes the non-transitory computer readable storage mediumof example 15, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause themachine to in response to a request to modify the blueprint, determinewhether the modification is valid, in response to determining that themodification is valid, modify the blueprint, identify a first virtualresource of the one or more virtual resources affected by themodification, the first virtual resource having a first configuration,and redeploy the first virtual resource with a second configurationbased on the modification, the second configuration different from thefirst configuration.

Example 19 includes the non-transitory computer readable storage mediumof example 18, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause themachine to identify a second virtual resource having a dependency on thefirst virtual resource based on the blueprint, determine that the secondvirtual resource is to be deployed before the first virtual resourcebased on the blueprint, and redeploy the second virtual resource beforethe first virtual resource.

Example 20 includes the non-transitory computer readable storage mediumof example 15, wherein the blueprint is a first blueprint, and theinstructions, when executed, cause the machine to in response to thecloud computing environment obtaining a second blueprint, determinewhether the second blueprint is different from the first blueprint, inresponse to determining that the second blueprint is different from thefirst blueprint, determine that the second blueprint includes modifyinga first virtual resource of the one or more virtual resources from afirst configuration to a second configuration, in response todetermining that the second configuration is valid, replace the firstblueprint with the second blueprint, and redeploy the first virtualresource with the second configuration based on the second blueprint.

Example 21 includes the non-transitory computer readable storage mediumof example 20, wherein the second blueprint includes modifying a secondvirtual resource of the one or more virtual resources having the firstconfiguration, and the instructions, when executed, cause the machine toconfigure a third virtual resource having the second configuration basedon the second blueprint, provision the third virtual resource to thecloud computing environment, transfer a workload from the second virtualresource to the third virtual resource, and decommission the secondvirtual resource from the cloud computing environment.

Although certain example systems, methods, apparatus, and articles ofmanufacture have been disclosed herein, the scope of coverage of thispatent is not limited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers allsystems, methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture fairly fallingwithin the scope of the claims of this patent.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus to improve cloud computingmanagement, the apparatus comprising: at least one memory; machinereadable instructions; and at least one processor to execute the machinereadable instructions to at least: store a blueprint and a cloud managerinstaller in a cloud platform manager to cause an installation of thecloud platform manager in a cloud computing environment; after amodification of the blueprint stored in the cloud platform manager,redeploy the cloud platform manager and a virtual resource of the cloudcomputing environment based on the modification; and cause execution ofthe cloud manager installer to manage a lifecycle of an application tobe executed by the virtual resource.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the virtual resource is a first virtual resource, and the atleast one processor is to: provision a second virtual resource to thecloud computing environment based on the modification; transfer aworkload from the first virtual resource to the second virtual resource,the workload associated with the application; decommission the firstvirtual resource; and cause execution of the application by the secondvirtual resource.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least oneprocessor is to execute the cloud manager installer to configure thecloud computing environment based on environment information, theenvironment information including at least one of a securitycertificate, a uniform resource locator, an Internet Protocol address,an Internet Protocol port, or access credentials for an accountassociated with the cloud computing environment.
 4. The apparatus ofclaim 3, wherein the virtual resource is a virtual machine, and the atleast one processor is to execute the cloud manager installer to:identify the virtual machine based on the blueprint; and provision thevirtual machine to the cloud computing environment based on at least oneof the environment information or the blueprint.
 5. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the at least one processor is to: after a request tomodify the blueprint, determine whether the modification is valid; aftera determination that the modification is valid, modify the blueprint;identify that the virtual resource is affected by the modification, thevirtual resource having a first configuration; and redeploy the virtualresource with a second configuration based on the modification, thesecond configuration different from the first configuration.
 6. Theapparatus of claim 5, wherein the virtual resource is a first virtualresource, and the at least one processor is to: identify a secondvirtual resource based on the blueprint, the second virtual resourcedependent on the first virtual resource; determine that the secondvirtual resource is to be deployed after the first virtual resourcebased on the blueprint; and redeploy the second virtual resource afterthe first virtual resource.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theblueprint is a first blueprint, and the at least one processor is to:replace the first blueprint with a second blueprint; redeploy at leastone of the cloud platform manager or the virtual resource based on thesecond blueprint; and cause execution of the application by the virtualresource.
 8. At least one non-transitory machine readable storage mediumcomprising instructions, that, when executed, cause at least oneprocessor to at least: store a blueprint and a cloud manager installerin a cloud platform manager to cause an installation of the cloudplatform manager in a cloud computing environment; after an adjustmentof the blueprint stored in the cloud platform manager, instantiate thecloud platform manager and a virtual resource of the cloud computingenvironment based on the adjustment; and cause execution of the cloudmanager installer to control a lifecycle of an application to be hostedby the virtual resource.
 9. The at least one non-transitory machinereadable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the virtual resource is afirst virtual resource, and the instructions to cause the at least oneprocessor to: deploy a second virtual resource in the cloud computingenvironment based on the adjustment; move a workload from the firstvirtual resource to the second virtual resource, the workload associatedwith the application; shut down the first virtual resource; and causeexecution of the application by the second virtual resource.
 10. The atleast one non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 8,wherein the instructions are to cause the at least one processor tocause the execution of the cloud manager installer to create the cloudcomputing environment based on environment information, the environmentinformation including at least one of a security certificate, a uniformresource locator, an Internet Protocol address, an Internet Protocolport, or access credentials for an account associated with the cloudcomputing environment.
 11. The at least one non-transitory machinereadable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the virtual resource is avirtual machine, and the instructions to cause the at least oneprocessor to cause the execution of the cloud manager installer to:identify the virtual machine based on the blueprint; and deploy thevirtual machine to the cloud computing environment based on at least oneof the environment information or the blueprint.
 12. The at least onenon-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein theinstructions are to cause the at least one processor to: after a requestto adjust the blueprint, determine whether the adjustment is valid;after a determination that the adjustment is valid, adjust theblueprint; determine that the virtual resource is affected by theadjustment, the virtual resource having a first configuration; andinstantiate the virtual resource with a second configuration based onthe adjustment, the second configuration different from the firstconfiguration.
 13. The at least one non-transitory machine readablestorage medium of claim 12, wherein the virtual resource is a firstvirtual resource, and the instructions are to cause the at least oneprocessor to: identify a second virtual resource based on the blueprint,the second virtual resource dependent on the first virtual resource;determine that the second virtual resource is to be deployed after thefirst virtual resource based on the blueprint; and instantiate thesecond virtual resource after the first virtual resource.
 14. The atleast one non-transitory machine readable storage medium of claim 8,wherein the blueprint is a first blueprint, and the instructions tocause the at least one processor to: switch the first blueprint with asecond blueprint; redeploy at least one of the cloud platform manager orthe virtual resource based on the second blueprint; and cause executionof the application by the virtual resource.
 15. A method to improvecloud computing management, the method comprising: storing a blueprintand a cloud manager installer in a cloud platform manager to cause aninstallation of the cloud platform manager in a cloud computingenvironment; after a change of the blueprint stored in the cloudplatform manager, redeploying the cloud platform manager and a virtualresource of the cloud computing environment based on the change; andexecuting the cloud manager installer to manage a lifecycle of anapplication to be executed by the virtual resource.
 16. The method ofclaim 15, wherein the virtual resource is a first virtual resource, andthe method further including: installing a second virtual resource inthe cloud computing environment based on the change; shifting a workloadfrom the first virtual resource to the second virtual resource, theworkload associated with the application; disabling the first virtualresource; and executing the application with the second virtualresource.
 17. The method of claim 15, further including executing thecloud manager installer to generate the cloud computing environmentbased on environment information, the environment information includingat least one of a security certificate, a uniform resource locator, anInternet Protocol address, an Internet Protocol port, or accesscredentials for an account associated with the cloud computingenvironment.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the virtual resource isa virtual machine, and the method further including: identifying thevirtual machine based on the blueprint; and provisioning the virtualmachine to the cloud computing environment based on at least one of theenvironment information or the blueprint.
 19. The method of claim 15,further including: after a request to change the blueprint, determiningwhether the change is valid; after a determination that the change isvalid, change the blueprint; identify that the virtual resource isaffected by the change, the virtual resource having a firstconfiguration; and redeploy the virtual resource with a secondconfiguration based on the change, the second configuration differentfrom the first configuration.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein thevirtual resource is a first virtual resource, and the method furtherincluding: identifying a second virtual resource based on the blueprint,the second virtual resource having a dependency on the first virtualresource; determining that the second virtual resource is to be deployedafter the first virtual resource based on the blueprint; and redeployingthe second virtual resource after the first virtual resource.
 21. Themethod of claim 15, wherein the blueprint is a first blueprint, and themethod further including: swapping the first blueprint with a secondblueprint; redeploying at least one of the cloud platform manager or thevirtual resource based on the second blueprint; and executing theapplication using the virtual resource.